


Simplicity

by SakuraBreeze



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Bokuto Koutarou/Terushima Yuuji, Kenma is a good friend, M/M, Minor Violence, More tags to be added, One Night Stands, Polyamory, Rating May Change, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Threesome - M/M/M, side kenma/hinata
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-08-18 22:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8178844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBreeze/pseuds/SakuraBreeze
Summary: Growing up, Kuroo never really believed in soulmates. After meeting Bokuto, that changes, just for a moment. Until he learns that Bokuto already has a soulmate in the form of one Terushima Yuuji. Together with the two of them, Kuroo will learn that having a soulmate might not be so bad after all.





	1. Marked

**Author's Note:**

> So, guess who's fallen into bokuroteru hell? Anyway, I really like soulmate AUs, and I really like the idea of poly soulmates - so I decided to write this fic! The rating may or may not change, depending on how graphic I end up going in later chapters, so keep that in mind!
> 
> I'll update Flying on Broken wings eventually, I promise!

Growing up, Kuroo had never really believed in soulmates. Okay, well, maybe he’d believed in them to an extent; it’s not like he could close his eyes and the star on his chest – gold and bright, with just a speck of black in the middle, right over his heart – would suddenly disappear. He’d just never really _bought into_ it. To him, it’d always just seemed like one big hoax. Something designed to placate everyone, to make them believe that there was a happy ending out there for them, to make them forget about all the other problems in the world.

When Kuroo was eight, he had to pull three bullies off of Kenma. When he’d asked what they wanted from him, Kenma had told him that he didn’t have a soulmark.

When he was fourteen, a store in his neighbourhood had been held up, and the cashier had been killed. It had later turned out that the cashier and the shooter were soulmates that, by some twist of fate, hadn’t met before then. The shooter had been sentenced to life in prison for the crime.

So, he’d decided that soulmates weren’t for him. If the universe was twisted enough that someone could end up killing their own soulmate, he didn’t really want a part in it.

Or, at least he thought that he’d decided. Things started becoming a lot less clear when he met Bokuto Koutarou and Terushima Yuuji.

It was summer, and Kuroo was jogging through a park near the university, because apparently he hated himself. The heat was sweltering; the sun beat down without the mercy of any wind. Sweat dripped down the back of Kuroo’s neck, and all he wanted to do was collapse onto the grass beside the path. And maybe dive head-first into a swimming pool and never come out.

But, he was nothing if not determined once he set out to do something. He’d be damned if he didn’t finish his route.

So, he pressed on, ignoring the way his shirt stuck to his skin with sweat. It was a Thursday, but the university was on break, so the park was pretty busy that day. He ran past picnicking families and couples, and people walking their dogs. The path he was on took him past a small pond, and towards the courts. People were playing tennis and basketball, and Kuroo paused mid-step when he noticed a group playing volleyball. It was odd to see people playing volleyball outdoors; he’d mostly only ever seen people playing indoors.

He watched, distracted, as the ball arced into the air, and a guy with black and white hair slammed it down into the other court with a satisfying _bang_. He guy let out a cheer as a small, ginger kid on the opposite side from him jumped up and down, yelling “so cool!” over and over. Kuroo couldn’t help but chuckle at his enthusiasm.

He was surprised to see Oikawa pick up the ball again and get ready to serve. If Iwaizumi knew he was here, practicing when he was supposed to be resting, he would kill him. As Oikawa set up his serve, Kuroo’s eyes drifted back to the guy with the owl hair. Even though he was facing away from Kuroo, he could tell that he was attractive. He was built solidly, and his muscles were perfectly toned. The guy turned, and Kuroo’s intuition was confirmed as he caught a glimpse of golden eyes and—

A volleyball hit him square in the face.

Kuroo fell back, sprawling out on the grass behind him with an _oof_. He stared up at the sky for a moment, wondering what just happened. Probably Oikawa getting way too into the game and one of his serves going wild. Oh, he was _so_ telling Iwaizumi now.

“Tetsu-chan!” He heard Oikawa’s voice call to him, high-pitched and annoyingly chipper. Kuroo groaned, his nose throbbing in pain, and sat up to see Oikawa and the guy with the black and white hair jogging towards him. As his gaze fell on him, Oikawa stopped for a moment, and let out an “oh, shit” under his breath. Kuroo frowned and brought his hand to his nose. He let out another groan when his fingers came away wet.

“Oikawa, you asshole,” he grouched. “No wonder Iwaizumi calls you shittykawa.”

Vague panic crossed over Oikawa’s face at the mention of Iwaizumi. “You _cannot_ tell Iwa-chan about this, Tetsu-chan,” Oikawa said as he came to kneel next to him, the other guy standing just behind Oikawa. “He’ll murder me!”

“You probably broke my nose!” Kuroo said, covering his nose with his hand and tipping his head back. “Give me one good reason I _shouldn’t_ go tell Iwaizumi right now.”

Oikawa shifted, thinking for a moment. “You can come play with us! I know you haven’t played volleyball in a while,” he said. “It’ll be fun!”

“ _My nose is bleeding_!” He hissed, glaring at Oikawa.

“I’m not surprised, dude, Oikawa’s serves are intense,” the guy behind Oikawa said, grinning. How could he be smiling right now? God, that grin was so stupid. And pretty.

Kuroo snorted. Or, he tried to, and winced in the process. “I appreciate the sympathy,” he muttered.

The guy laughed. “Come on, I’ll help stop the bleeding,” he said, offering Kuroo a hand up. “Then you can come play with us!”

Kuroo frowned at him for a moment, noticing the hint of a golden mark peeking out from underneath his tank top. Deciding to ignore it, he took the offered hand. “Fine,” he sighed, and then turned to Oikawa. “But you owe me a drink. And only once you’ve bought me that drink, I’ll _think_ about not telling Iwaizumi.”

Oikawa nodded furiously, and Kuroo laughed a little under his breath as he followed the other guy away, keeping his face turned towards the sky.

“So,” the guy spoke up. “Tetsu-chan?”

“Tetsurou, actually,” Kuroo said. “Kuroo. Oikawa gives everyone obnoxious nicknames.”

The guy laughed. “I know,” he said. “I’m Kou-chan to him. Bokuto Koutarou.”

“I wish I could say that it’s a pleasure, but…”

Bokuto laughed, wide grin still fixed on his face. “I get it, I get it. Taking a spike to the face is never fun. And Oikawa’s serves might as well be spikes in that regard. So, you play?”

“Casually, sometimes,” Kuroo said. “I used to play a lot more, but I don’t have the time now that I’m in university.”

“I get that,” Bokuto said as he led them into a public bathroom, grabbing some toilet paper and handing it to Kuroo. “Most of my old teammates don’t play anymore for the same reason.”

Kuroo took the toilet paper and scrunched it up, putting two pieces up his nose. He then tentatively touched the bridge of his nose, wincing at the pressure. It was bruised, definitely, but didn’t quite feel broken. He’d had enough of those as a kid to know the difference. He perched on the sink, tipping his head back.

“Broken?” Bokuto asked. Kuroo shook his head. “Gonna need an icepack?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” Kuroo said. “It might swell up a bit, but I don’t think it’ll be too bad. I’ve taken worse hits to the face.”

“You gonna tell Iwaizumi?” Bokuto snickered.

Kuroo laughed. “I haven’t decided. I’m not sure how vindictive I’m feeling yet,” he said. “I guess it depends how badly I beat Oikawa’s ass.”

Bokuto threw his head back in laughter. “Oikawa isn’t exactly an amateur.”

“Oh, I know,” Kuroo said. “But I saw how you spiked – you’re not exactly an amateur, either. And I might be rusty, but I’m not a bad player.”

“Well, then, I’m excited to see you play. I’m sure we’ll beat Oikawa’s ass thoroughly.”

“Heck, yeah, dude,” Kuroo grinned. “Let’s go, I think I’m good.” Kuroo hopped down from the sink and pulled the tissues out of his nose, tossing them into the bin.

“You sure?” Bokuto asked. “I don’t want your nose to start bleeding again or something.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, dude, I’ll be fine,” he said, heading towards the door. “Let’s go.”

They walked back towards the court, chatting amiably. Kuroo found himself laughing at every second thing Bokuto said and admiring the way Bokuto’s eyes lit up when he did. He glanced back down at Bokuto’s chest, wondering, just for a moment, if maybe… No. He shook his head to himself. It wasn’t likely. And even if it was, it wasn’t important. That’s what he told himself.

So far, he really liked Bokuto – and, yeah, he’d date him in a heartbeat – but he wasn’t going to let being soulmates dictate that.

When they got back to the court, they were playing two on two, with Oikawa sitting out, a pout firmly fixed on his face. Next to him sat Ushijima, who hadn’t been there before. No wonder Oikawa looked so upset. On the court was the ginger kid from before, a very grumpy looking setter, Daichi, and Nishinoya. Oikawa looked up as the approached, perking up.

“Tetsu-chan! You’re alright!” He called. “You can come play with us. Ushiwaka-chan even agreed so that we’d be even! Now you won’t tell Iwa-chan, right? Right? I’ll buy you that drink!”

“I said I’d _think_ about not telling Iwaizumi when you bought me that drink,” he said. “I still haven’t decided yet. Now, are we going to play or what?”

“Hell yeah!” He heard Nishinoya shout from behind him. “Four on four, let’s go!”

So, they played. Ushijima joined Oikawa’s team, which Oikawa wasn’t exactly happy about – only slightly less so than if he’d been playing against him.

It was a pretty even match, all things considered. Each time Kuroo managed to slam the ball down on the opposite side of the net, a familiar thrill ran through him. Even after all this time, he still loved volleyball. Each time they scored, Bokuto would cheer as loudly as possible, and Kuroo quickly found himself doing the same. In a way that surprised even Hinata, Kuroo and Bokuto managed to continually hype each other up throughout the set.

Their enthusiasm only increased with each point scored, though Kuroo nowhere near matched Bokuto’s excitability, and when they finally won their set, Bokuto tore off his shirt as he leaped into the air and cheered. Kuroo was about to do the same – or something to the same effect – when his eyes landed on Bokuto’s chest.

A shining, golden star with a speck of black in the middle, right over his heart. Kuroo froze, staring at it. It was the same as Kuroo’s. There was no mistaking it. Kuroo felt his heart thunder in his chest, and couldn’t help the overwhelming _want_ that he felt.

Bokuto was friendly, funny, knew just how to get him pumped, and had one of the best smiles Kuroo had ever seen. And more than anything else, they _matched_.

In that moment, Kuroo started believing in soulmates, just a little.

He swallowed. “Hey, Bo, I think-”

“Oh, Yuuji!” Bokuto called excitedly, looking past Kuroo. Kuroo turned to see a guy with a blond undercut approaching them just as Bokuto bounded towards him and pulled him into a deep kiss. Kuroo suppressed a flinch.

“Hey, there, Kou! Miss me much?” The guy grinned once Bokuto had let him go. Then, his eyes landed on Kuroo. “Who’s this? He wasn’t here when I left.”

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” Kuroo said tightly. “Oikawa over there hit me in the face with one of his serves and invited me to play as an apology.”

The guy laughed. “Pretty shitty apology.”

Kuroo smiled, hoping that it didn’t look as fake as it felt. “He’s also buying me a drink. I threatened to tell Iwaizumi.”

He laughed again, putting his arm around Bokuto. “Nice one.”

“And you are?”

“Oh! Sorry, Terushima Yuuji,” he greeted. His smile was almost as bright as Bokuto’s, and just as nice – but Kuroo couldn’t help but feel a little bitter towards it. They suited each other well. “I’m this one’s soulmate.” He squeezed Bokuto a little.

And, just like that, Kuroo’s small belief was shattered. He tried to smile, but he couldn’t.

Bokuto’s eyes widened. “Shit dude, you- Are you okay?”

Kuroo faltered a moment, scared he’d been caught, and then frowned. “I’m fine, why?”

“Your nose is bleeding,” Terushima said.

Kuroo blinked. “Shit.” He brought his hand up to his nose again and, sure enough, there was blood there. He glared back at Oikawa. “Two nosebleeds means you owe me two drinks, asshole!” He yelled.

Oikawa spluttered, but didn’t protest.

“Want me to help you again?” Bokuto offered. His earnestness just made Kuroo feel worse.

“No,” he said, a little too quickly. “No, it’s fine. I’m just- I’m just gonna go home. I have work to do, anyway.”

Bokuto deflated. “Oh. Well, I’ll see you around then. Hey! Why don’t I take down your number? We can play volleyball again!”

Kuroo hesitated for a moment. Did he really want to give Bokuto his number? His head told him that it was a terrible idea, that it would just lead to heartache. The guy already had a soulmate. Maybe it meant that Kuroo didn’t have one, after all. Not that he needed one. In the end, his heart won out and he said, “Just get it from Oikawa. I’m gonna go before this stains my shirt.”

Before anyone could say anything else, he left.

 

* * *

 

When he got home, Kuroo called Kenma.

He headed straight for the couch as he dialled his number, flopping onto it. His nose had stopped bleeding on the way home, and he saw no sign of Tsukishima, so he figured it was fine not to drag himself all the way to his room.

Kenma picked up on the fourth ring. “Kuro? What is it?” He asked.

Kuroo made an indignant noise. “Why do you always assume something’s wrong when I call?”

Kenma sighed. “Because you only ever call when something’s wrong. Otherwise you’d just text me,” he pointed out.

Kuroo pouted. Why did Kenma have to know him so well? “I met a guy today,” he said.

“You meet guys all the time, Kuro,” Kenma said.

“I know, but.” Kuroo hesitated, chewing on his lip.

“This one’s different somehow. Why?”

“I thought he was my soulmate. For a moment.”

Kenma was silent, and Kuroo knew that he was thinking. Kuroo just appreciated having him on the line. “What makes you say that?” Kenma asked after a minute.

“I was playing volleyball with him and Oikawa and a few others and he took off his shirt.”

“You matched?” Kenma sounded surprised.

“I thought so,” Kuroo sighed. He shifted onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, grimacing. He was still a little shaken from the incident. That small hope and then… Nothing. This is exactly why he’d told himself not to believe in soulmates in the first place. They would always let you down. Always.

“And now you don’t?”

“He… Already has a soulmate.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo paused again, thinking of what to say. “I just… I think soulmates are stupid. I do. But… Part of me really hoped for a second, you know? I was so sure. Maybe this means I don’t have a soulmate. Maybe there was some kind of mistake with me.”

“I know,” Kenma said, sounding sympathetic. “I know the feeling.”

“Thanks, Kenma,” Kuroo murmured, glad that he at least had him. A lot of people gave them shit for being so close when they weren’t even soulmates, but. Kenma was the best friend Kuroo could have asked for. He placed about as much importance on the whole soulmate thing as Kuroo did, so they understood each other.

“No need to thank me.”

Kuroo’s lips quirked up a little. “I know. But I did anyway. Thanks for sticking with me.”

“I should be the one saying that.” He could hear the small smile in Kenma’s voice. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Kuroo said honestly. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. The nosebleed’s stopped already.”

Kenma paused. “The what?”

Kuroo laughed. “Oh, right. I didn’t tell you. I’ll give you the whole story when I see you on Saturday.”

“Okay, I’ll see you then, Kuro.”

“See you then.”

Kuroo let his phone drop onto the couch beside him when Kenma hung up, slinging an arm over his face.

He’d be fine, he would. It was natural to be shaken up by something like that, wasn’t it? Sighing, Kuroo turned onto his side and let himself fall asleep.


	2. The Beginning is Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo and Kenma go to a bar. Bokuto, Terushima, and Hinata are there.

Kuroo slumped over his desk, cheek pressed to the cool paper of the assignment that he was most definitely trying to do. He _was_ , okay? He’d written a whole paragraph already. Sure, it had taken him about six hours to do it, but the effort counted! He knew that Kenma would just level him with a judgemental look and then go back to playing video games, but. Whatever. He’d still take the victory.

Kuroo’s phone buzzed next to his face, lighting up with a notification for a text. Groaning, he leaned back in his chair and picked up his phone, unlocking it and opening the text.

**Unknown Number:** Hey dude! It’s me Bokuto! From the volleyball game in the park yesterday!

Kuroo’s heart gave a weird little skip at the sight of Bokuto’s name, and an involuntary smile pulled at his lips. He told himself that it was just because Bokuto was such a cool guy – despite the whole soulmate mix up, he was someone that Kuroo would still want to get to know. They got along like a house on fire (Kuroo had a feeling that that would come to be a more apt metaphor than he would like to admit), and he was sure that they would become fast friends. So, maybe against his better judgement, he decided to reply.

**Kuroo:** Hey dude. Had fun yesterday. We should hang out again sometime.

He glanced back at his assignment, frowning at it. Maybe if he stared at it for long enough, it would write itself. Eventually, he let out a sigh and gave up. This obviously wasn’t happening tonight. He could kick his ass into gear when Kenma got here tomorrow. He got up from his desk and flopped down into bed just as his phone buzzed with another message.

**Bo:** Hell yeah! You’re not bad at volleyball at all. We totally beat Oikawa’s ass yesterday after you left.

He smiled at that.

**Kuroo:** I’m even better when I’m not holding back a nosebleed. That’s good to know. He deserved it.

**Bo:** Well then we should play again sometime! Yuuji totally wants to see you play. Are you okay by the way? That nosebleed was pretty nasty.

Kuroo grimaced a little at the mention of Terushima’s name, but appreciated Bokuto’s concern. He knew that jealousy wasn’t a pretty thing, but he couldn’t help it. He’d deal with his feelings eventually.

**Kuroo:** Yeah I’m good. It hurts a little but it stopped bleeding pretty quickly. And yeah I’d be keen to play with you guys again sometime.

It was a lie, but if he was going to be friends with Bokuto, he’d have to learn to be okay with Terushima.

**Bo:** That’s good! I’m glad it’s not broken. How about we play next week again? We can organize a three on three.

**Kuroo:** Me too lmao. My face is too pretty to mess up with a broken nose.

He winced a little, hoping that that didn’t sound too douchey.

**Kuroo:** Who else you got in mind to play?

**Bo:** Haha! That’s true. We can probably get Oikawa and my friend Akaashi to play, but we’ll need one more.

Kuroo swallowed thickly at Bokuto’s agreement, his heartbeat picking up a little. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t mean anything.

**Kuroo:** I have a friend called Lev. He gets excited just at the mention of volleyball lmao.

**Bo:** Sounds like my kinda guy! Me n Teru are the same, haha.

**Kuroo:** I can tell lol

**Bo:** What’s that supposed to mean??

**Kuroo:** Nothing, nothing.

Wincing, he typed out his next message.

**Kuroo:** So how did you and Terushima meet?

**Bo:** Volleyball, actually! I play on my uni’s team and he did too during our first year. I got really excited during a practice match and ended up taking my shirt off. Kinda like yesterday lol. Then he went all ‘holy shit! We match!’ and he tore his shirt off and chest bumped me.

Kuroo snorted despite himself. They really were a match. He couldn’t help but find it ironic, though, that he and Bokuto met in almost exactly the same way.

**Kuroo:** Lmao. You two totally suit each other.

**Bo:** Thanks! You got a soulmate yet?

He paused, not sure how to answer that. He didn’t want to spill his feelings all over Bokuto so soon after meeting him.

**Kuroo:** Nah, I don’t really care much about that sorta thing.

**Bo:** That’s weird. Why not?

**Bo:** Not weird in a bad way tho!!

**Kuroo:** My best friend is unmarked. He kind of had a tough time when we were younger.

**Bo:** Shit dude I’m sorry. That sucks.

**Kuroo:** Nah it’s cool. don’t worry about it dude.

Kuroo sighed. He didn’t really like talking about Kenma being unmarked. He was sure that Kenma felt the same way about bringing it up. People always tended either to treat Kenma with pity or disdain – something which neither of them could stand. So, he typed out another quick message.

**Kuroo:** Just don’t bring it up if you ever meet him. He’s not ashamed of it, just… People can be assholes about it.

**Bo:** I totally get it don’t worry.

**Bo:** Does he like volleyball? He can play with us too!

He let out a laugh. Bokuto really had a one-track mind. But, it also meant that he genuinely wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, which made Kuroo happy.

**Kuroo:** Afraid not. He’s a pretty good setter but he’d rather spend his time playing video games.

**Bo:** I can respect that. When Teru n I aren’t playing volleyball we’re usually playing video games.

**Kuroo:** How do you have time for classes??

**Bo:** …

**Kuroo:** Your grades are shit aren’t they?

**Bo:**!! You don’t know that!!

**Bo:** They kinda are though… We have no focus

**Kuroo:** I’m rolling my eyes right now

**Kuroo:** I procrastinate but I at least make time for things when I really need to.

**Bo:** Aren’t you, like, super smart anyway?? Oikawa said you studied something super hard. You could toooottally tutor us???

Kuroo’s mouth twisted. He wouldn’t mind tutoring Bokuto, but… He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to spend that much time with Terushima just yet. He wouldn’t turn him down completely, though, even if he wasn’t serious. Maybe once Kuroo got his act together, he’d be able to do it.

**Kuroo:** I’ll think about it.

**Bo:** I’ll love you forever if you do!!!

His heart did something funny at that, and he decided that he needed to get away from this conversation for the time being.

**Kuroo:** Anyway, I need to get back to this assignment. Gotta keep my grades up, unlike someone.

**Bo:** Low blow, man!! But anyway I’ll see you at our match! I’m super pumped!!!

Despite the ache in his chest, Kuroo chuckled. Calling Bokuto excitable would be an understatement. He tossed his phone to one side and seriously considered actually doing more of assignment, but decided to just get some dinner and go to sleep instead.

He could get to his assignment tomorrow. Or the day after. Or, whenever. He was still totally on top of things. It was fine.

Totally fine.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo sat with Kenma in the booth of a bar not too far from Kuroo’s apartment. It was early in the evening, so it was still pretty quiet – this particular bar never really got that ridiculously busy. Kenma didn’t like crowds and noise, so this was a good fit for them. Usually, they’d hang out at one of their apartments, but, by some twist of fate, they’d both been sexiled at the same time. Kenma’s roommate was a girl called Yachi, and, from what Kuroo had heard, she’d finally confessed to her soulmate, Kiyoko, the other day.

So, having nothing better to do – and Kuroo did _not_ want to spend his Saturday at the library or something equally as sad – they had come here.

Kuroo took a sip of his beer, enjoying the warmth that spread in his chest with each swallow, and absently looked at his phone. No texts from Bokuto. He tried not to be disappointed.

“Have you spoken to him since you called me?” Kenma asked.

Kuroo blinked at him. He really was observant. “Who?” Kuroo tried to play innocent. Kenma just stared at him, looking unimpressed. Kuroo gave him a sheepish grin. “Yeah, we texted a bit last night.” Kenma stared at him some more. Kuroo shifted. “We just talked about stupid stuff. Volleyball. We’re going to play again next week. I mentioned I don’t really care about soulmates. He talked a lot about Terushima.”

Kenma took a sip of his own drink, considering. “I see,” he said.

“When I brought up you, all he wanted to know is if you wanted to play volleyball with us,” Kuroo said, laughing a little. “It’s adorable.” Kenma frowned at him, and Kuroo sighed. “I know, I know. I won’t get too involved. He just seems like a cool guy, is all. I still want to be friends with him.”

“Just be careful, okay? This seems like it could become a messy situation.”

Kuroo snorted. “When have I ever gotten myself into a messy situation?”

“Only always,” Kenma deadpanned. “I’m usually the one getting you out of them.”

Kuroo opened his mouth for another retort, but was interrupted by a high-pitched cry of, “Oh! It’s Rooster Head!” Hinata dropped into the booth next to Kenma, while an awkward-looking Kageyama hovered next to the table.

“Hey, it’s Shrimpy!” Kuroo returned, sly grin spreading across his lips. “And your grumpy friend.”

Kageyama looked decidedly unimpressed at that. “I’m not grumpy,” he muttered, eyebrows knitting into a frown.

Hinata laughed, and Kenma watched him quietly. “Of course you are,” Hinata said. “Now stop just standing around there! Sit down!” Kageyama hesitated for a moment, before sitting next to Kuroo. Hinata nodded, satisfied. “So what are you guys doing here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”

“Oh, I don’t usually come to bars often,” Kenma said. “I usually prefer to just play video games, but…”

“Both of our roommates are banging their soulmates right now,” Kuroo said. Kageyama grimaced knowingly, and Hinata laughed again, before turning towards Kenma.

“So what kind of video games do you play?” Hinata asked. “I love playing volleyball, but video games are really fun as well!”

Kenma shifted awkwardly, but there was a smile on his lips. Kuroo huffed out a laugh as Kenma began to gush about his latest game, while Hinata listened with a grin on his face.

“There’s no stopping him now,” Kuroo said.

“Nor Hinata,” Kageyama said. “Once he gets that stupid grin, he won’t think about anything else. It’s the same one he has when he thinks about volleyball.”

“Like you aren’t also a volleyball nut?” Kuroo teased. Kageyama’s eyebrow twitch told him that he was right. He grinned and took another swig of his beer, draining the bottle and setting it down on the table with a contented sigh. “I’m gonna go get another drink,” he announced. “Anyone want anything?” Kageyama shook his head, and Kenma and Hinata ignored him completely.

Chuckling, Kuroo squeezed out of the booth and headed towards the bar across the room. He weaved through the thickening crowd of people, eventually squeezing himself in between two guys to get to the counter. As he looked around for the bartender, he spotted a familiar face, and his stomach clenched.

“Terushima?” He called, a little surprised.

Terushima looked up from the customer he was serving, eyes flashing with recognition and a bright grin spreading across his face. “Oh, hey!” He exclaimed. He finished with his customer and then approached him. “Kuroo, right? Just call me Teru.”

“Uh, yeah, that’s me,” he said, hoping he didn’t seem as awkward as he felt. “So you work here? I didn’t see you earlier.”

“Oh, yeah, I just got off break,” Terushima said, thumbing towards the door behind the bar. “You here on your own, or?”

Kuroo shook his head. “No, I’m here with Kenma, but, uh… He got talking to Hinata, and I’m not sure how good company he’s gonna be anymore.”

Terushima’s grin widened, taking on an excited glint. “So they hit it off? That’s so cool! Hinata was just chattering to me in the back about how cute the guy with Rooster Head was. I didn’t realize that was you.”

Despite the unpleasant feeling that had settled in his stomach, Kuroo laughed. “Please don’t start calling me that as well. My reputation will be ruined if it becomes a thing.”

“Oh? And what sort of reputation is that?”

“My cool reputation.”

Terushima laughed. “I think saying something like that immediately makes you less cool.”

“How rude,” Kuroo snorted, but he was smiling. Wasn’t he supposed to be bitter towards this guy? “I’ll have you know that I am _super_ cool.”

“Sure, big guy. Anyway, I gotta get back to serving customers. But Kou should be here any minute now, and-” Kuroo let out a small _oof_ as someone slapped him on the back. “Speak of the devil!”

“Hey, hey! Yuuji, Kuroo!” Bokuto said, grinning just as brightly as he had two days before. “Fancy meeting you here!”

“Anyway, like I was saying,” Terushima continued. “I was on the early shift so I’m getting off soon, so you should hang out with us!”

Bokuto’s face lit up. “Yeah! That’s a great idea! I wanna party with Kuroo!”

Kuroo hesitated a moment, but one look at Bokuto’s pleading face and his resolve crumbled. “Yeah, sure, that sounds like fun,” he said.

“Hell yes! This is gonna be awesome,” Bokuto said, punching the air.

“I should get back,” Terushima said. “Did you want to order something?”

“Yeah, just your cheapest beer, please.” At Terushima and Bokuto’s look, Kuroo just shrugged. “Broke student, here, okay?”

Bokuto laughed. “I know that feeling. A vodka and coke for me. Oh! And three tequila shots, please, Yuuji!”

Kuroo grimaced, but before he could say anything, Terushima was already walking away as he called, “Coming right up!”

“Tequila? Really, Bo?” Kuroo asked, a little incredulous. “This early?”

Bokuto slapped him on the back again. “Go hard or go home, bro!”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, but laughed anyway as he placed his money on the counter. A short while later, Terushima reappeared with their drinks, three shot glasses, and a bottle of tequila. Kuroo accepted his beer and watched with apprehension as Terushima poured out the tequila. When he was done, he set the bottle aside and they all picked up a glass, bumping them together before swallowing them down. Kuroo coughed a little at the burning in his throat.

“Woo!” Bokuto cheered. “Let’s go,” he said, tugging on Kuroo’s arm. “See you later, Yuuji!”

Terushima waved at them as they walked away. “See ya!”

Bokuto dragged him to the middle of the dancefloor, which was now slowly filling up, and started jamming to whatever song was playing, like he didn’t have a care in the world. The tequila they just had made Kuroo feel warm and happy – just buzzed enough to play along with Bokuto’s antics. He danced along with him, moving to the rock tune coming through the speakers. He kept drinking his beer, which kept his buzz going, even making him a little drunker. Bodies moved around them, squishing them closer together. Kuroo was grateful for the dim lighting in this part of the bar, because he was sure that his face was flushed – more so than he could blame on the alcohol. He wasn’t sure how long they stayed there. It must have been quite some time, because next thing he knew, Terushima was joining them.

Bokuto made some comment into Terushima’s ear, to which he responded by sticking out his tongue, and Kuroo noticed, for the first time, that he had a tongue piercing. His heart fluttered oddly. He had to admit that Terushima was attractive – and not just through the haze of alcohol. They danced for a while longer, until Bokuto yelled out “Shots!” and they headed to the bar for more.

This time Bokuto ordered some shot that Kuroo hadn’t had before. It was sweet and smooth, but went to Kuroo’s head just the same as the tequila had. Almost before Kuroo had put down his shot glass, Terushima was ordering three more, plus drinks. Kuroo opened his mouth to complain, but let it fall shut again. Despite everything, he was having fun, wasn’t he? What was the harm in just letting himself let go for tonight? So, he took the shots, and the drink, without complaint, cheering along with the both of them when they swallowed them down.

They made their way back to the booth Kuroo had been at before, where Kenma, Kageyama, and Hinata still sat. He wondered if any of them had moved at all in the time that he had been gone.

“Oh, Kuro,” Kenma said as he sat down. “You were gone for quite some time.”

“Just got picked up by these two guys at the bar,” Kuroo joked. Kenma gave him a look, but didn’t say anything.

“Oh, Bokuto! I didn’t know you were here,” Hinata exclaimed, turning away from Kenma just a little. They were close now. Closer than they had been before, at any rate.

“I only got here a little while ago,” he said.

“Kuro was gone for almost an hour,” Kenma pointed out.

Bokuto shrugged sheepishly, but didn’t look at all guilty. “Whoops. Well. Your boy Kuroo here is tons of fun. Sorry, but I think Yuuji and I should keep him for the night.”

“Don’t decide that by yourself!” Kuroo huffed. His imagination supplied him with a possible scenario for what ‘keeping’ meant, and he flushed a little at the thought, even though he knew that that wasn’t what Bokuto had intended.

“Well, I like this idea, so,” Terushima supplied, grinning. “Not everyone can keep up with Kou an’ me. You can crash at our place!”

Bokuto nodded furiously. “Yeah! Yeah! That’s a great idea!”

Kuroo glanced at Kenma, who was frowning at him. “I want to leave soon, so if you want to stay with them, that’s fine,” Kenma said. “Otherwise you’re free to split a taxi home like we planned.”

“Kenma no, you can’t leave!” Hinata whined. “I’m having so much fun!”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t like staying out this late, usually,” Kenma said, looking genuinely apologetic. “You’re welcome to come play video games with me whenever you want, though. I already gave you my number.”

Hinata’s desolate look quickly turned back into an excited grin. “Yeah! Awesome! I’ll text you!”

Kenma nodded, giving Hinata a small smile, before standing and excusing himself from the table. They all drank together and chatted for a while longer, before Hinata and Kageyama left as well. By the time it was just the three of them, Kuroo was drunk enough to forget to be uncomfortable that he was third-wheeling – to someone he had a crush on at that.

As the night wore on, Kuroo got drunker and drunker, and his anxieties about Bokuto and Terushima seemed more and more distant. Terushima and Bokuto stuck close to one another, holding hands and standing in each other’s personal space, but didn’t go any further than that while Kuroo was around – which he appreciated. They were really fun to hang out with. They understood each other’s humour perfectly, Bokuto and Terushima didn’t make a big deal out of any personal things that Kuroo let slip, and Kuroo just… _worked_ with them. He couldn’t really explain it.

They stayed out together for a long while more, drinking and talking, and then dancing when their words didn’t make sense anymore. They only left when the bar was about ready to close, and then they took their time getting back to Terushima and Bokuto’s apartment. When they finally arrived, and Kuroo’s head finally hit the pillow of their couch, a warm blanket falling softly over him, his last thought was how well they all just fit together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have lots of free time at the moment and literally all I want to do is write this fic right now so.... Here's the next chapter lmao. Not sure when the next one will be, but hopefully soon!
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo. One day I'll figure out how to put links in here. Today is not that day.
> 
> Shout-out to my beta, Juicy!


	3. Our Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo has breakfast with Bokuto and Terushima, and then he learns something about Hinata.

Kuroo woke up slowly and reluctantly. As soon as he felt the first hints of consciousness – and the nausea and headache that came with it – he tried his damnest to pass back out again. It worked to an extent, for about half an hour. He was able to keep himself in a semi-comfortable limbo in between sleep and being fully awake. He knew that his hangover, courtesy of Bokuto and Terushima, would come in full force as soon as he properly woke up – so he avoided it for as long as possible.

That stopped being an option, however, when he heard Bokuto and Terushima’s snickering from about two feet away. He frowned, suppressing a groan, and tried to sink back into sleep. Unsuccessfully.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe he sleeps like that,” he heard Terushima whisper, obviously trying not to giggle. “That thing he’s doing with the pillows, it’s so… _Cute_.”

“Adorable,” Bokuto agreed.

Kuroo groaned, giving up on sleep and doing his best not to blush. “I know I’m adorable, but how are you two even _alive_ right now?” He complained, cracking his eyes open and squinting at them. Terushima stood just across from him, on the other side of a small coffee table, with a very amused smile on his face, while Bokuto stood by the stove in the small kitchen, looking just as pleased with the situation.

“I never took you for the type to not handle his alcohol well,” Terushima teased.

Kuroo sat slowly, a wave of nausea hitting him as he did, and he groaned again. He knew his hair was sticking out in every direction. “No, I’m pretty normal,” he said. “You guys just have weirdly high tolerances.”

Terushima shrugged, but his smile didn’t falter at all. “I guess it does kind of come with being a bartender.”

“And with having a bartender for a boyfriend!” Bokuto added from the kitchen. Kuroo grimaced. Staying with them might not have been such a good idea after all.

“Hey, you okay?” Terushima stepped forward, looking a little worried. Kuroo really hated perceptive people sometimes.

“Hungover as shit,” he said. It was only a half lie. “No thanks to you guys. Thank god it’s Sunday.”

Terushima laughed, features sliding back into his easy cheer. “You should party with us more often. We’ll get you on our level someday.”

“Do I really want to do that if I’m gonna feel like this afterwards?”

“Come on, you had fun last night! Didn’t you?” Bokuto said.

Kuroo sighed. “Yeah, okay, I did. You got me there. I should probably get going soon, though,” he said. “Get out of your guys’ hair, and try and feel less like shit.”

“No way!” Kuroo jumped a little at Bokuto’s sudden exclamation. Terushima snickered. “I already started making breakfast for all three of us!”

“How can you say no to that face?” Terushima added. Bokuto was looking at him with wide, pleading eyes.

Kuroo sighed again. “Fine! Fine. I’ll have breakfast here. It better be greasy though.”

Bokuto grinned, and Kuroo was once again a little startled by how beautiful it was. “Bacon all the way, bro!”

Kuroo cracked a small smile of his own. “Hell yeah, that sounds amazing.”

“Hold on, I’ll get you some water,” Terushima said, making his way over to the kitchen.

“No, you don’t have to, I can get it myself,” Kuroo said, shifting so that his legs were crossed on the couch, under the blanket.

“You’re the guest, dude! Don’t worry about it,” he said as he opened the fridge. After grabbing two bottles, he came back and handed one to Kuroo. He opened it and took a few gulps, suddenly realizing how thirsty he had been.

“Thanks, dude,” Kuroo said, sighing happily as he finished his water. “You guys are the best. I don’t know what I’d have done without you this morning.”

“Died?” Bokuto suggested.

“Wallowed in your hangover?” Terushima added.

 “I’m already doing both of those things, but you guys are at least cheering me up despite it.”

“Well, I’m glad we could help. Breakfast’s almost ready – think you can make it to the table?” Bokuto asked.

“Can I keep the blanket on?”

“Of course!” Terushima said, chuckling. “Don’t worry about manners here, we don’t judge.”

“Good,” Kuroo said. “Because honestly, right now, you can pry this blanket from my cold, dead hands.”

Both Bokuto and Terushima burst out laughing, and Kuroo found himself smiling at the sound. Bokuto wasn’t the only one with a nice smile and laugh, he thought. Terushima’s was just as radiant and boisterous as Bokuto’s. Kuroo would call them captivating if he was willing to go there. But he wasn’t.

So, shaking off those thoughts, he got up and moved over to the table – where Bokuto was already setting out plates of food. Kuroo sat himself in front of one, and stared down at the massive helping of bacon, eggs, and an omelette. Why Bokuto would decide to pair bacon and eggs with an omelette, Kuroo couldn’t say – but it smelled delicious either way. As Bokuto and Terushima sat down next to him, Kuroo tugged his blanket more tightly around his shoulders and took a bite of the omelette.

“Holy shit,” he breathed. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Add another thing to the list of perfect things about Bokuto.

“Right?” Terushima agreed. “Kou is such an amazing cook.”

Bokuto smiled his usual, cocky smile, but a light blush dusted across his cheeks. “I’m pretty great, aren’t I?”

 _Yes, you are_ , Kuroo’s mind supplied, though he didn’t say anything out loud. Their conversation continued in much the same way throughout breakfast; mindless banter and warm laughter. Somehow, whenever Kuroo tried to withdraw and just let them do their _thing_ , they’d seem to notice and make a point to draw him back in. Whether it was on purpose, or just something they did on instinct, he couldn’t say. Either way, Kuroo was happily surprised each time despite himself. When they finished breakfast, Kuroo insisted on helping with the dishes. Bokuto and Terushima had tried to refuse, but Kuroo wasn’t having any of it. They’d let him crash there and fed him, and the least he could do was help wash the dishes.

So, they all worked together on the dishes – Kuroo washed, Bokuto dried, and Terushima packed away – and Kuroo was struck with the domesticity of it all. His heart panged with a faint sense of want, but he stopped that train of thought quickly. He wasn’t going to think about that, at least not right now – not while he was with them. He could wallow in his own time.

When they finished, Kuroo got all his stuff together and put on his shoes, getting ready to go.

“I’ll walk with you to the station,” Bokuto said, slipping on his shoes as well. “I need to go to the convenience store, anyway.”

“Oh, cool, for what?” Kuroo asked, waiting for Bokuto to finish tying his shoelaces.

“Pads,” he said. Kuroo frowned and opened his mouth to ask why, when Bokuto cut in with, “Our neighbour needs them. She said she was feeling really awful, so I offered to go for her.”

“Jesus, Bo,” Kuroo laughed. “Could you get any nicer?”

Bokuto grinned and shrugged. “I try.” He stood, turning to Terushima. “Bye, Yuuji! I’ll see you in a bit.” Terushima walked over from where he was wiping down the kitchen counter and gave Bokuto a quick peck on the lips. Kuroo looked away, and pretended to check the time on his phone.

“Bye, Kou,” he said. “And see you around, Kuroo! It was fun partying with you, lightweight.”

Kuroo rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. “If you think I’m a lightweight, you should see Oikawa. He tries to act cool, but after one beer he’s already practically falling over. Anyway, yeah, I had a good time, we should do it again. See you.”

Terushima grinned and waved as they left, and Kuroo wasn’t sure whether to feel happy at the sight or whether to run away from them and the ugly jealousy that had now settled in his chest.

Bokuto did most of the talking as they walked, and Kuroo was glad for it. He wasn’t sure that he would be much of a conversationalist right then, even if he tried. Between his still-raging hangover and... Everything else, he just wanted to crawl back into bed and not come out for about a week. Or until he was over this dumb crush. Whichever came first.

The train station was about a five minute walk away, just a bit further than the convenience store was. Bokuto wanted to walk him the whole way, but Kuroo insisted that he was fine. He didn’t want to cause him trouble.

As they stopped outside of the convenience store to say goodbye, Kuroo heard a familiar loud, hyperactive yell. He turned, and, sure enough, he came face-to-face with bright, orange hair.

“Shrimpy!” He called, and then winced. Shouting while hungover – not exactly a good idea. Hinata whirled around and grinned, pulling Kageyama along with him as he bounded over. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“You, too!” He said. “You’re heading home now?”

Kuroo nodded. “Yep, and this one insisted on walking with me most of the way to the station,” he said, jabbing a thumb in Bokuto’s direction. “What are you doing here?”

“We’re getting new volleyball shoes!” Hinata said, punching his arms into the air excitedly. As he did so, Kageyama caught sight of something on his inner elbow – something he hadn’t seen before. A mark. Kuroo frowned. It couldn’t be. He looked to Kageyama, and yep – there was a soulmark on his inner elbow. One that matched Hinata’s. They seemed to notice him looking, because Kageyama stiffened, an uncomfortable grimace pulling at his features.

“You two are soulmates,” Kuroo said, more of a statement than a question. He glanced at Bokuto, who seemed to be as equally confused as he was.

“Please don’t tell Kenma!” Hinata burst out, looking almost on the verge of tears. Kuroo’s frown only deepened.

“Why shouldn’t I?” He asked, irritation leaking into his voice. “Kenma’s my best friend. Why wouldn’t I tell him something like this?”

“It’s- I really like him! And Kageyama and I… We’re not….”

“We’re platonic soulmates,” Kageyama cut in. “Hinata doesn’t want Kenma to know because he’s scared that it’ll scare him off.”

“Please,” Hinata pleaded.

Kuroo sighed. “That’s not the kind of thing that would scare Kenma off,” he said. “Trust me on this one, Kenma won’t mind if you’re honest with him.”

“….Okay,” Hinata said quietly. “I’ll- I’ll tell him.”

“Good,” he said, giving Hinata an encouraging smile. “I can’t promise to keep this a secret for long, though. Kenma knows me too well. He’ll know something is up.”

“Doesn’t…. He doesn’t have a soulmate, does he?” Hinata asked, suddenly sounding unsure of himself. “I just… I really like him, even though we’ve only met once, and…”

“No, he doesn’t,” Kuroo said, shaking his head. “That’s not something you need to worry about. Talk to him about it, trust me.”

Hinata nodded, looking a little more resolute. “Okay. Thank you, Kuroo. What about you?”

Kuroo blinked, his throat suddenly feeling a little tight. “What about me?”

“Do you have a soulmate?” He asked.

“Oh,” he said, hand unconsciously coming up to rub at his soulmark on his chest. Bokuto gave him an odd look, but Kuroo ignored it. “No, I don’t. It’s, ah.” Kuroo shrugged. “It’s whatever.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure you’ll find someone soon!” Hinata said. Kuroo just gave him a thin smile and shrugged again. Hinata seemed to take the hint, and dropped the subject. “Well, Kageyama and I should probably get going. We’ll see you around! I’ll be sure to talk to Kenma soon!”

Kuroo nodded. “Yeah, see you.”

With an excited wave, Hinata left, Kageyama following behind. Kuroo watched after them, eyebrows pulling into a slight frown again as he considered their conversation.

“Soulmates are funny things, aren’t they?” Bokuto mused. Kuroo looked at him to see a similar expression on his face. “They’re not always what you think they are.”

“Yeah,” Kuroo agreed quietly.

“You okay?” Bokuto asked, his expression shifting into a concerned one as he looked at Kuroo. “I know you don’t like talking about your soulmate situation.”

Kuroo swallowed thickly. “I’m alright, thank you, Bo,” he said. “I should… Get going. Your neighbour needs you, after all.”

“Right, okay. I’ll text you later. Is it okay if I give Yuuji your number?”

“Sure thing. See you, Bo.”

Bokuto gave him a clap on the shoulder, before disappearing into the convenience store. Kuroo watched him go for a moment, and then headed off as well. He shoved his hands in his pockets and kept his head down as he walked to the station, and chose a spot as far away as possible from the other people when he got on the train.

The ride wasn’t long, but he spent the entire way thinking about his conversation with Hinata and Kageyama and Bokuto. He wasn’t sure why, or what it was about that conversation, but it had left him rattled. Maybe it was the fact that Hinata technically already had a soulmate, and that it could complicate things for Kenma. Or maybe it was the words that Bokuto had said afterwards that had impacted him so much.

 _Soulmates are funny things, aren’t they? They’re not always what you think they are_.

No, he supposed they weren’t. But that didn’t make things any easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed! Sorry that this took me longer than usual, and that it's a bit shorter than I normally write ;;  
> Writer's block hit me HARD with this one. The next chapter will hopefully be longer.
> 
> Anyway, please let me know what you think! Any comments are hugely appreciated <3 thank you to those that have been doing so so far!
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo.


	4. Gain and Loss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo gets into trouble one night. Luckily, Terushima is there to help him.

Kuroo sat by the corner window of the coffee shop – _Night Owls_ , it was called – and stared out the window, watching people go by. He was ditching his last few classes of the day in favour of studying for a test tomorrow. Or, he was trying to study, at least. What happened on Sunday still nagged at his mind.

Soulmates weren’t easy things, despite what the media had people believe. They weren’t meet, see each other’s marks, and instantly fall in love. Sure, that happened for some people. Bokuto and Terushima were a prime example. But, for everyone else, things weren’t so simple. Despite what soulmates should, in theory, be – they were still messy and complicated.

He hadn’t seen Bokuto’s mark again since that first day that he’d met him, but he still tried to imagine what it looked like at times. He had thought that they were a match, but he had to have been mistaken. How he felt about Bokuto, how he fit with him – it was all based on a mistake he’d made. Soulmates weren’t always straightforward, but in this case they were, despite what Bokuto had said. Bokuto and Terushima were soulmates and they were in love and that was that.

Kuroo sighed and tried not to think about it. Dwelling wasn’t doing him any good, anyway. He turned his thoughts to Kenma. He was worried about him and his situation, as well. He wondered if he and Hinata had spoken yet. Kenma was going to be joining him later, so he supposed that he could find out then. He just hoped that things worked out for Kenma. He could tell that Kenma really liked Hinata, even after only one meeting. He hadn’t said anything outright, but Kuroo knew him well enough to be able to tell – even over the phone.

Looking back to his notes, he took another sip of his coffee and resolved to get at least _something_ done before Kenma got there. He picked out a topic and random, and began to read over what he’d written, trying to memorize the definitions and facts. Sometimes he hated studying chemistry – it was a lot of work – but it was something that he was good at.

He took sips of his hot chocolate as he worked. Usually he’d go for coffee, but he was already feeling so highly-strung that day; coffee would just make him anxious and jumpy and he wouldn’t be able to focus at all. It was difficult enough as it was. By the time he finished his hot chocolate, he’d already finished with his first pack of notes. Satisfied with his progress, he got up to go to the bathroom and get another cup.

When he returned, Kenma was already sitting in the seat across from his.

“How’d you know this was the right table?” He asked, amused, as he sat down again. “This could have been anyone’s table.”

Kenma didn’t even bother to look up from his laptop. “No one’s this messy with their notes, Kuro,” he said. “Except maybe Hinata, but his notes also don’t have quite so many long equations on them.”

Kuroo raised his eyebrows and sat back in his chair. “So you already know how messy he is? It’s only been a few days,” he chuckled, trying not to seem too much of a mother hen in his worry.

Kenma shifted a little in his seat, and this time he looked at Kuroo. “I, um. Went over to his and Kageyama’s apartment yesterday,” he said quietly. A small smile had settled on his lips.

Kuroo grinned, glad to see his friend happy. “Ohoho? You went to his _place_?” He teased, wiggling his eyebrows.

A blush rose to Kenma’s cheeks, and Kuroo couldn’t help but laugh. “It wasn’t anything like that,” he mumbled. “We just hung out and… Talked.”

Kuroo’s smile softened. “So he talked to you, huh?”

“You knew?” Kenma asked, frowning a little.

Kuroo just shrugged and took a ship of his hot chocolate. “I found out on Sunday,” he said. “I ran into him and Kageyama on my way to the train station. I didn’t want to tell you because I wanted you to hear it from him, first. If he hadn’t told you soon, though, I would have said something.”

Kenma nodded, his face relaxing. He looked at his tea for a moment, somewhat pensively, before smiling again. “Thank you, Kuro. I appreciate it.”

Kuroo shrugged again. “What are childhood friends for? So, I take it the talk turned out well?”

“Yes, it did,” Kenma said. “He told me about Kageyama and explained that they were platonic, and then he asked me to see a movie with him. In all honesty… It’s kind of a relief. I think it’s something that we can make work. Even if… I’d have to deal with Hinata living with Kageyama.”

“Oh? How so?”

“Now, if things work out, I won’t have to worry about him finding his soulmate in the middle of things,” he said, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. “Now the only thing I need to worry about is… Normal date stuff.”

Kuroo leaned over and ruffled Kenma’s hair, ignoring the dirty look he shot him. “That’s great to hear! I’m happy for you! And I really don’t think that you have anything to worry about,” he said. “Shrimpy adores you. So, when are you going out?”

Kenma’s blush deepened and his smile widened. “Thanks, Kuro. We’re going out this Friday.”

“That’s great!”

Kenma nodded again, taking a sip of his tea. “So, how are… Things with you? We haven’t really spoken about it since Saturday.”

Kuroo pursed his lips, and his stomach dropped a little as he began to think of things again. “It’s okay,” he said. “Bokuto and Terushima are really nice people.”

“But… Are you okay? With everything?”

He shrugged, hand coming up to touch his chest lightly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll just need time. But… I still want to be friends with them, if I can.”

“That’s very mature of you, Kuro.”

Kuroo laughed, but the sound rang hollow to him. “Don’t say that like you’re surprised!”

“I am surprised,” Kenma deadpanned, and then went back to working on his laptop.

Kuroo laughed again, quieter this time, and turned his attention back to his own work. They studied in silence for a long while after that, the only sounds between them that of the tapping of Kenma’s keys, and Kuroo’s pen scratching across his page. Kenma got them refills once, but other than that they managed so almost solely focus on their respective work. It was mostly due to the fact that every time Kuroo tried to start up conversation, Kenma would quickly shut him down – but Kuroo liked to think that he was being especially productive that day.

Eventually, just as it was starting to get dark, Kenma packed up to leave.

“I have an early class tomorrow,” he said as he zipped up his laptop bag. “I don’t want to get home too late. Are you going to stay here?”

Kuroo nodded. “I still have a lot of stuff to cover for this test, and you know I can’t study for shit at home. I’ll probably go when the café closes – I think at about 10 or 11?”

“Okay. Stay safe,” he said. “Message me when you get home.”

“You, too,” he said a little absently, circling something on his page.

Kenma nodded, and then left. About half an hour later, Kuroo’s phone buzzed in his pocket – most likely the text from Kenma. By the time the number of patrons in the coffee shop began to thin out, Kuroo had covered most of his work, and he decided that it was finally time for a coffee. He got one, and set back to work, feeling more energised than before. He finally, _finally_ finished just as the workers were closing the main doors to any new customers. He felt a little bad for staying so late – it was just after 11 – but he was happy with himself for getting all of his work done. For once.

After packing up as quickly as he could, he thanked the café staff and left. It was a warm night when he got outside, with a pleasant breeze blowing through the streets every so often. Putting his earphones into his ears and pressing play on his phone, he started back towards the station.

Vaguely, he remembered the bar Terushima worked at being relatively near there. He wondered if Terushima was working that night. He hadn’t spoken at length to either of them since Sunday, though Terushima had texted him his number. He’d had a few chats here and there, but had ultimately been too busy that week to keep in that close contact with anyone other than Kenma.

As he walked, he started feeling a little on edge. His hair stood on end and his heartbeat picked up a little. He just chalked it up to the coffee, however. It did make him feel a little anxious sometimes, especially if he’d already been feeling that way to begin with. He picked up his pace anyway, if only to make himself feel better.

That didn’t make much difference, however, when someone grabbed his arm and pulled him into an alleyway. His earphones fell out of his ears as he stumbled into a wall, the cold glint of a knife flashing in front of his face.

_Fuck._

“Give me all your shit,” a gruff voice ordered. He couldn’t see the guy’s face; it was covered by a beanie and a surgical mask. Kuroo swallowed thickly, but didn’t dare to nod as he began digging in his pockets for his valuables. He was suddenly glad that he hadn’t brought his laptop along with him that day. The guy, obviously not satisfied with how quickly he was going, gave him a hard punch to the face. Kuroo groaned, stumbling. The movement jostled the man, and the knife accidentally nicked his neck. “Hurry up!” The guy yelled. Kuroo quickened his pace. Just as he was pulling his wallet and phone out of his pockets, a bottle hit the mugger over the head, and he dropped. Another hand wrapped around his wrist, warm and somehow familiar, and pulled him hastily out of the alleyway.

He tried to figure out who it was that had rescued him as they ran, but he found that he couldn’t focus enough. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, and he couldn’t swallow. Once they were a block or so away, right outside the station, Kuroo realized, they stopped, and hands grabbed his shoulders.

“Shit, dude, are you okay?” Came a concerned voice. Kuroo looked up, and realized that it was Terushima. Terushima winced. “You’re not okay.”

Kuroo let out a long breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Thank you, Teru,” he said, voice quiet and a little hoarse. Part of him wanted to get away from Terushima’s hold, but another part was immeasurably comforted by his touch.

Terushima’s frown deepened. “No, you’re not. You’re bleeding.”

“I’m-” _fine_ , he tried to say, but the words wouldn’t come. He wasn’t fine. He was scared and he was bitter that Terushima made him feel so much better.

“Shit,” Terushima repeated. “No, you’re not going home. Come on, I’m taking you back to our place.”

Kuroo nodded, feeling too shaken to argue further. Terushima grabbed him again, this time by the hand, and guided him along as they headed in the direction of his and Bokuto’s place. It wasn’t far off, but the trip seemed to take a long time. Time seemed to slow down as they walked, and the only thing Kuroo seemed to be able to concentrate on was the place where Terushima was holding his hand. It was warm and _right_ and even that simple act calmed Kuroo’s heart.

They were silent as they entered the elevator of their building, and Terushima didn’t let go. Kuroo was grateful, but at the same time he wasn’t sure what to think. As they opened the door, he immediately heard Bokuto’s bounding footsteps coming towards them.

“Yuuji! You’re- Oh, shit,” Bokuto said, stopping just short of them. He held Kuroo’s face in his hands, tilting it upwards. “Shit, shit, are you okay? What happened?”

Kuroo swallowed, nodding. “Fine, just- Just shaken up.”

“You’re bleeding!” Bokuto cried. Kuroo winced. “Come on, Yuuji ‘n’ I will get you patched up. What happened?”

“He got jumped,” Terushima explained as the two of them led Kuroo into the apartment, depositing him on the couch. “I saw him just as he was being pulled into the alley.”

“Teru got the guy before he got my stuff, though,” Kuroo said, smiling weakly. “I’m lucky he had that bottle.”

“I’d just gotten off work, so I was finishing my drink on the way home. Wait here.”

Kuroo nodded, and then slumped forwards, resting his head in his hands, as Bokuto and Terushima disappeared further into the apartment. He let out a shaky sigh. That could have gone so much worse. If the guy had been just a little angrier, just a little more impatient – Kuroo didn’t want to think about it. He wasn’t a weak guy, but he’d been caught off guard.

He sighed again as he heard footsteps coming towards him, but didn’t lift his head. A weight settled into the couch next to him, and a hand rubbed at his back. He leaned into it, just a little. He allowed himself that much.

“Kuroo?” Came Bokuto’s voice from in front of him, quiet and gentle – so much unlike his usual self. His heart gave a happy twinge at the sound. “Can I see your face?” Slowly, Kuroo lifted is head to see Bokuto seated on the coffee table cross from him, and dropped his hands. Bokuto winced, and handed Kuroo an icepack.

Kuroo gave a weak laugh as he pressed the icepack to his cheek. “That bad?”

“It’s definitely going to bruise,” Bokuto said honestly, dabbing some disinfectant onto a cotton bud.

“Don’t worry, I heal quickly. My pretty face will be back to normal in no time,” he joked.

Terushima clicked his tongue. “We’re more worried about _you_ than your face,” he said. Kuroo didn’t know how to reply; he hadn’t been expecting that.

Bokuto pressed the cotton bud to the cut on Kuroo’s neck. Kuroo hissed at the sting, and jerked a little. Bokuto muttered a quiet apology, but continued to disinfect it. When he was done, he placed a plaster over it. Kuroo was just grateful that it wasn’t bad enough to need medical attention. Satisfied, Bokuto then gently moved Kuroo’s face away from his cheek and inspected it, fingers lingering against his.

“That looks painful,” Bokuto said, putting some more disinfectant on another cotton bud and dabbing it against the graze on his cheek.

“It is when you do that,” Kuroo mumbled, feeling a little miserable.

“Yeah, but, we don’t want it getting infected, do we?”

Kuroo sighed, wincing as Bokuto pressed the cotton bud to it again. When he was done, he let Kuroo put the icepack back against it.

“Thanks, Bokuto,” Kuroo said. “I should-”

“No,” Terushima interrupted. “You’re not going home tonight. You’re sleeping here, on our bed if need be.”

Kuroo frowned. “I can’t do that. I don’t want to impose.”

Terushima gave him a smile. Kuroo would almost call it endearing. “It’s not imposing if we’re offering.”

“Seriously, we don’t want you going home tonight,” Bokuto insisted as he packed his things back into the box next to him. “We’re worried about you, and we want you to stay here. We can watch movies or something.”

Kuroo hesitated a moment, feeling an unbidden happiness swell within him, and then hating himself for it. He needed to get himself under control. He couldn’t keep doing this forever. But, looking between the two of them, he couldn’t say no. And he didn’t want to.

“Okay,” he said finally, letting out another, long breath.

“Awesome!” Bokuto exclaimed, grinning and jumping up. “What do you want to watch?”

“The shittiest movie you have,” he said.

“Hoho, you are in for a treat,” Terushima said, still rubbing his back. “We have some _very_ shitty movies.”

“Good. The worse the better.”

Bokuto’s grin widened, and he hurried off into the back of the apartment again.

After a beat, Terushima spoke up again. “Are you feeling okay?” He asked quietly.

Kuroo looked at him for a moment, eyes searching his face. For what, he wasn’t sure, but he felt like he found it. “I’m okay. Thank you. Really, thank you – if you hadn’t been there…”

Terushima shook his head. “Don’t mention it. I couldn’t just let something like that happen to you,” he said, giving Kuroo a smile full of warmth and caring.

Kuroo looked away, unable to bear being on the receiving end of that look without- without having what Bokuto and Terushima had. “Yeah, thank you. And… I appreciate what you and Bo are doing for me now.”

If Terushima had a response to that, Kuroo didn’t find out. Bokuto came bounding back in, laptop and cable in hand. “I found the _best_ worst movie,” he announced as he hooked his laptop up to the TV. “If you like shitty movies, you’ll love this one.”

“Great, I’m looking forward to it,” Kuroo said, leaning back into the couch as Terushima took away his hand.

Bokuto got the movie playing, and then settled into the couch on the other side of Kuroo, instead of next to Terushima. He sat close, radiating body warmth, and Kuroo felt comfortable between the two of them.

The movie was some dumb flic about a mega-storm, with even dumber characters, and Kuroo loved every minute of it. They all laughed at the same parts – like when the asshole character got himself killed by running right into the storm. Kuroo felt Bokuto and Terushima’s laughter vibrate through him from where they were pressed together, and it lifted his mood almost entirely.

Partway through the movie, Bokuto fell asleep, his head falling onto Kuroo’s shoulder. Kuroo pretended not to notice, and kept his attention on the movie. Shortly after, Terushima moved his arm to rest it on the back of the couch, behind Kuroo, and settled closer to him. Kuroo pretended not to notice that, either.

Or, at least he tried to.

With the two of them pressed into him as they were, he couldn’t distract himself from his feelings anymore. He didn’t just have a dumb crush on Bokuto anymore. He had full-blown feelings for him – and for Terushima, too. He wanted so badly to be with them, with both of them, but he didn’t know if that was even possible.

He knew that the best thing to do would be just to _talk_ to them, but… They were each other’s soulmates. They wouldn’t possibly want him to come in and mess things up for them.

But, there was no harm in just letting himself enjoy being next to them, at least for now. So, he let himself settle into them, appreciate their warmth, their surety, the care they had given him. It might only be as good as a dream, a wistful imagining, but Kuroo let himself have it for that, brief moment.

Even if it would be gone come morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot more fun to write than the last one, haha. I looove writing angst. The next chapter is also pretty much done, so that should be up tomorrow, more or less.
> 
> I hope you guys have enjoyed so far! Please do let me know what you think! c:


	5. Don't Run Our Hearts Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo continues to run away from his problems, and Kenma tries to be a good friend.

Kuroo woke up in a tangle of limbs.

He blinked a few times, trying to process where exactly he was. He was still half upright, his cheek pressed all too comfortably against Terushima’s shoulder, while Terushima’s head rested atop his own and Bokuto was slumped against him. Both Bokuto and Terushima had their arms wrapped around Kuroo, almost protectively, and their legs all pressed up against one another. Vaguely, he noticed that the TV was still on, but that Terushima must have turned off the lights at some point.

Bokuto and Terushima breathed quietly, still fast asleep. Kuroo glanced at the window, and realized that it was morning already. It wasn’t late, however. The sun was just peeking over the horizon through the open curtains of their window. All Kuroo wanted to do was settle back into the couch and go back to sleep, but…

He couldn’t.

He needed to leave. He’d already given himself too much of this – it was selfish, and it would only make things worse for the three of them if he continued. Plus, he had his test. Bokuto and Terushima would understand if he left without saying goodbye.

He needed to leave.

Quietly, slowly, he began to disentangle himself from the two of them, making sure that neither of them fell or woke up. They must have been pretty deep sleepers, because they barely even reacted.

Once Kuroo was up, he gathered his things and headed straight for the door. As he placed his hand on the doorknob, he hesitated and cast a look back at Bokuto and Terushima. In the short time he’d been up, they’d already managed to weave themselves around each other. It almost looked like a puppy pile. Kuroo smiled at the sight, bitterly happy that they at least had each other, before walking out the door. If he thought he heard Bokuto wake up and call after him, he didn’t go back to find out.

Kuroo hurried down the hallway and into the elevator, suddenly feeling sick and out of place. He needed to be out of there before either of them woke up properly and thought to go after him. They were the types to do that – he could tell already. They were good people, after all. The kindness and care they’d shown him last night was probably something they would have done for anyone. He wasn’t special. Not to them.

Only when he stepped out of the apartment building and started towards the train station did he check his phone. 7:23 AM. Still about an hour and a half till until his test. He wasn’t going to bother to go home and get changed. He could just have breakfast at one of the cafés on campus, and no one would look at him funny for wearing the same clothes two days in a row, especially not those in his class – half of them would probably be doing the same, having stayed all night at a 24 hour library or coffee shop.

He also noticed then that he had four missed calls and a bunch of texts from Kenma.

Shit.

He’d forgotten to text him last night.

Unlocking his phone, he pulled up Kenma’s contact. Phoning him this early wouldn’t be an issue – Kenma had said that he had an early class today, and if he wasn’t mistaken he shouldn’t be there quite yet. So, after wincing at how upset Kenma would probably be, he pressed dial.

Kenma picked up on the third ring. “Hello? Kuro? Are you okay?” He asked. “You never forget to text.”

“Yeah, sorry,” he said. His voice was still a little hoarse from sleep. “Something… Actually happened last night. I just forgot in the middle of everything.”

“What happened? You’re not hurt, are you?” Kenma prodded.

“Well. Kind of.”

“Kuro-”

“It’s nothing serious, I promise. Don’t worry,” he interjected. “I was on my way to the train station from the coffee shop when I got jumped. The guy hit me pretty hard in the face, and nicked me a little on the neck with his knife. But, Terushima managed to save me.”

“Terushima? Are you sure you’re okay? That doesn’t sound like nothing serious.”

“I’m… I’m not sure, actually,” Kuroo admitted. “But not so much because of being jumped. Terushima had just gotten off work and had seen what was happening. He managed to clock the guy with a bottle before he’d taken anything. And then… I went back to their place and slept there again. They… Fell asleep with me on the couch.”

“You don’t sound too happy about that.”

Kuroo let out a sigh as he rounded the corner into the train station. “Not exactly,” he said, going through the turnstiles and reaching his platform. “It was… Nice. Too nice. And too soon. I panicked this morning and left without saying goodbye. I just… Don’t want things to go wrong.”

“Kuro,” Kenma said, but was then silent for a few beats. Kuroo got onto the train, squeezing into the crowd. It was still a busy time of day, so he had to stand pressed against one of the walls.

“I know that tone,” Kuroo said eventually. “Just say whatever you want to say.”

“Are you… Sure about the mark? That it was a mistake?”

Kuroo paused. In all honesty, no, he wasn’t totally sure. But what could he do? “Kenma, I already told you,” he sighed. “They’re a match with each other.”

Kenma faltered, obviously unsure of what to say to that. “Well, my situation with Hinata worked out so far. I’m sure you’ll find a solution for yours,” he said quietly, attempting to reassure Kuroo.

Kuroo grimaced. “That’s different,” he said. He really didn’t want to be having this conversation right now. Not this early in the morning, and not when he was still feeling so shaken. Before Kenma could continue, he added, “I should go. I’m on the train and we’ll be going through a tunnel soon. Bye, Kenma.”

Kenma paused for a moment, but didn’t push any further. “Alright. Bye, Kuro. Let me know if you need anything,” he said, and then hung up.

Kuroo sighed, shoving his phone in his pocket, and concentrated on staring out the window. Why did things have to become so messy? This was exactly what he had been wanting to avoid. Right now, he just wanted to crawl into a hole and not come out until his brain got the picture that something with Bokuto and Terushima was _not happening_ and his feelings went away.

When he reached his station, he decided to buy a quick breakfast pastry and a coffee from one of the coffee shops and have them on the way to his campus. After the previous night’s events, he wasn’t feeling quite as confident in what he had studied, so he wanted to use what little time he had left before his test to study in his lecture hall.

The breakfast pastry was sweet, though a little stale, but he scarfed it down anyway – he hadn’t realized how hungry he was before. He hadn’t gotten a chance to have a proper dinner the previous night. He hardly thought that coffee shop food counted as a proper meal.

By the time he reached his class, he was finished his coffee and feeling just a little bit more awake. He settled into his seat near the middle of the room, pulling out his notes and setting to work reading them. A few other, desperate students were doing the same. The perks of being one of the earlier classes of the day, he supposed – the lecture hall wasn’t usually in use.

When the lecturer finally came and announced the start of their test, Kuroo was feeling a little bit better, but not as entirely prepared as he wanted to be. He supposed that it could have been worse, however. He’d been less prepared for tests in the past. The first half of his first year had been something of a disaster. During the test, he managed to keep most of his focus on the work in front of him. His mind tried to wander a few times to thoughts of Bokuto and Terushima, but the importance of his task managed to keep him mostly on track. He finished with about five minutes to spare, and left the lecture hall feeling at least a little less stressed.

As he headed away from the hall, deciding to go home and get some proper rest instead of going to the rest of his classes, he decided to check his phone again. Opening it up, he found two new messages.

 **Bo:** You left without saying bye this morning :( everything ok?

 **Teru:** You feeling ok? Bo n I are worried. Kenma said you have a test today tho. Good luck.

Kuroo decided to ignore them.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo took a long nap when he got home, collapsing into bed immediately after walking through the door and only waking up sometime in the late afternoon.

When he did, his phone was alight with even more messages from Bokuto and Terushima, as well as a few from Kenma. He decided to carry on ignoring all of them except for Kenma’s, at least for now. He wasn’t ready to talk to Bokuto and Terushima, yet.

 **Kenma:** How are you doing?

 **Kenma:** Did your test go okay?

 **Kenma:** Shouyou says he hopes you feel better soon.

 **Kenma:** Also I spoke to Terushima, he seemed pretty worried.

 **Kuroo:** I’m fine, thanks for worrying. My test went ok.

 **Kuroo:** Tell Shrimpy thanks as well.

 **Kenma:** That’s good to hear. And Terushima?

 **Kuroo:** I don’t wanna talk to him or Bo yet.

 **Kenma:** That’s understandable. But don’t put it off for too long.

 **Kuroo:** I won’t.

Sighing, Kuroo got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to inspect his injuries. He stepped up to the mirror looking at his cheek and bringing up a finger to prod at it lightly. The bruise and swelling weren’t too bad. Not as bad as Kuroo had thought that they would be, anyway. A light, purple colour speckled across his cheek, but it wasn’t anything that wouldn’t go away quickly. It would probably be gone tomorrow, if he was lucky. His cut, however, was a different story. Not wanting to risk infection, he decided to leave the plaster on.

Satisfied, he decided to go back to bed for a while.

Tsukishima was nowhere to be found, as usual. Though, Kuroo supposed that he shouldn’t really be surprised. He was probably in class – like Kuroo should be.

As he settled back under his blanket, he checked the time on his phone. It was already just about five o’clock – how he’d managed to sleep so long, he couldn’t say – and he hadn’t eaten all day. He _really_ didn’t feel like making anything, however. He knew if he asked nicely enough, Kenma would come over and cook him something, but he didn’t really feel like seeing his friend, either. He would likely just prod him about the Bokuto and Terushima thing, and he didn’t want to think about that just then.

What he _did_ feel like, however, was a drink. When in doubt, a beer always made him feel better. It was a temporary solution, but he thought that he deserved it after what had happened.

So, he decided to go to one of the bars in his neighbourhood, and grab something to eat on the way.

 

* * *

 

The music playing was loud, almost too loud to think. And Kuroo loved it.

This wasn’t one of the places he usually went to drink, but he didn’t particularly feel like running into anyone that he knew that night. So, he’d elected to go somewhere new, somewhere he was mostly sure that none of his close friends went.

He had, however, texted Oikawa and asked him to meet him there – kindly reminding him that he still owed him a drink. Oikawa was a good drinking buddy, and was, for the most part, too self-involved to ask any questions. He’d gladly agreed to come, despite it being a week night. So now Kuroo waited by the bar, beer in hand, for Oikawa to pitch up.

As he took a swig of his drink, a guy with light hair and pretty eyes approached him. “Hey there,” he drawled. “You here alone?”

“I’m waiting for a friend, actually,” Kuroo said, looking the guy up and down. He was pretty attractive, with a lean build and a defined jawline.

The guy’s face fell a little at Kuroo’s words. “Oh, I was hoping to get to know you better,” he said.

“Well,” Kuroo hummed, pausing in thought. He couldn’t deny that he was interested. Maybe… Maybe this is exactly what he needed. “I’ll be here for a while. My friend owes me a drink, but maybe you can come to me a bit later and then we can talk?”

The guy smiled. It was nowhere near as bright and beautiful as Bokuto’s and Terushima’s, but it wasn’t bad. After giving Kuroo one more once-over, he slid away, apparently content to bide his time.

Not five seconds later, Oikawa finally arrived.

“Oooh, Tetsu-chan, who was that?” He sang, and amused smile on his lips. “He was cute.”

Kuroo shrugged. “I’m not sure. But I hope to find out later.”

Oikawa’s smile widened and he raised his eyebrows. “Looks like I didn’t need to come along after all,” he said.

Kuroo snorted. “You still owe me a drink, Oikawa. And I need about ten.”

Oikawa frowned a little. “How come?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, shaking his head. “Now, we doing this, or what?”

Oikawa shrugged. “You know I’m always game. How about some shots? My treat.”

“The more the better.”

Oikawa’s smile turned into a grin, and he quickly flagged down the bartender and ordered them not just one, but two rounds of shots, as well as drinks. Kuroo downed them without hesitation, glad for the warmth that settled in his stomach. Grabbing their drinks, they headed straight for the dancefloor.

The DJ was playing some kind of electro song. Kuroo couldn’t say what, exactly – he wasn’t all that familiar with the genre – but it was good enough to dance to either way. They didn’t speak much, letting the alcohol and the music carry their fun instead. After a few songs, Oikawa got more drinks and shots, claiming that he wanted to get rid of the ‘pouty kitten’ look in his eyes. Kuroo wasn’t exactly going to complain.

By the time they got back onto the dancefloor, Kuroo had a pleasant buzz going – almost drunk. As they danced again, the guy from the floor sidled up to Kuroo, and Kuroo let him, deciding that, yes, this is what he needed. Oikawa gave him a sly, but knowing, smile and continued to dance in his own space.

Kuroo grinded against the guy, moving in his space and rubbing his hands across his shoulders. The guy smiled down at him, placing a hand on Kuroo’s lower back and pulling him closer. Kuroo let him. Soon, their lips were pressing together, and the guy’s hands were all over him.

After a few songs, the guy, Sakurai, he learned, offered to buy him another drink, which Kuroo gladly accepted. Then, they danced and made out more, and then Kuroo decided it was time to go a step further.

He leaned up, pressing his lips against Sakurai’s ear, and said, “My place isn’t too far from here.”

Sakurai looked down at him, and then grinned. After bidding a quick goodbye to Oikawa – who looked weirdly excited for him – he bailed, dragging Sakurai closely behind.

The walk home was short, littered with sly glances and brief touches. As soon as they reached the elevator, they were kissing again. Something in the back of his mind wondered what this would be like if this was Bokuto or Terushima, but it was quiet through his drunken haze, and he didn’t have the presence of mind to hush it. He barely managed to peel himself away from Sakurai when the elevator dinged at his floor, pulling him out and towards his apartment. They crept through it quietly, not wanting to wake up Tsukishima.

But, as soon as the door to Kuroo’s room was closed, trying to be quiet was the last things on their minds.

They tore at each other’s clothes, falling onto his bed, and Kuroo let himself get lost in the feeling of it all.

And if part of him wished that this was Bokuto or Terushima – or both – then, well, that was nobody’s business but his own.

 

* * *

 

Kuroo woke up, head pounding, to a frantic knocking on the front door. He shifted, groaning quietly. He really, _really_ didn’t want to get out of bed. His head hurt, and his entire body felt sluggish and spent. He blinked his eyes open, trying to get his bearings. A soft snore sounded from beside him, and Kuroo suddenly remembered his one night stand from last night. It wasn’t something he usually did, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret it.

When the knocking didn’t stop, Kuroo let out another, quiet groan, and forced himself out of bed. Almost as an afterthought, he remembered to pick up his discarded pants from the floor and pulled them on as he left his room.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming, I’m coming,” he grumbled as he crossed the threshold of his living room, towards the door. Irritable, he yanked open the door with more force than was necessary, and came face to face with one of the exact people he was avoiding. He paused, a little surprised. “Bokuto?”

“Kuroo!” Bokuto exclaimed, eyes wild and concerned. “You haven’t been answering our texts or calls! And you left without saying goodbye! Are you okay?”

Kuroo faltered, a little taken aback, and then gave a soft chuckle. “I’m okay, sorry about that,” he said, hand coming up to absently scratch his chest. Wait. Shit. His chest. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. He watched, scared, the moment when Bokuto’s eyes travelled down, settling on the soulmark over his heart. “I, uh…”

Bokuto’s eyes widened, and his mouth fell open a little as he stared at the mark. In that moment, Kuroo knew that he hadn’t been mistaken, before. He’d been right. He and Bokuto _were_ a match, and he matched with Terushima as well.

“Kuroo, you…?” Bokuto breathed. Fear clawed at Kuroo, closing up his throat. No, he wasn’t ready to be having this conversation. He liked Bokuto and Terushima, a lot, but soulmates were… And to have _two_ of them. He couldn’t do this. Not now.

He heard the sound of a door opening behind him, and Kuroo glanced back to see Sakurai emerging from his room. He heard a sharp intake of breath from Bokuto, and Kuroo knew that he had seen him, too.

“Look, Bo,” he said, turning back to Bokuto. “I appreciate the concern, I really do, but now isn’t really a good time. Tell Teru I’m okay. I’ll…” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I’ll text you later.”

Bokuto gave him an uncertain nod, but didn’t say anything further. Neither of them moved for a moment, just looking at each other, until the sadness in Bokuto’s eyes got too much for him.

“Bye, Bokuto,” he said, quietly, as he shut the door.

“Who was that?” Sakurai asked from behind him, looking just as cocky and confident in his skin as he had the night before.

Kuroo let out a small sigh. “It’s… Not important,” he said. “I need to get to class.”

Sakurai nodded, shrugging on his shirt and heading towards the door. “I’ll see you around, I guess,” he said.

“Yeah, sure,” Kuroo sighed. As soon as Sakurai was gone, Kuroo made his way to his room and dropped himself back into bed, one hand resting over his soulmark.

He closed his eyes and let out a long, shaky breath, before picking up his phone and calling Kenma.

“Kenma?” He said when he picked up his phone. “I think I fucked up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, and the angst continues!
> 
> I can't believe we're already more than half way done! c: I'm really enjoying writing this fic. It's the first time I've ever done a poly fic, and the dynamics are interesting to write!
> 
> I haven't done much planning for the next few chapters, so my next update might be a bit delayed, but I'll do my best to get them done as soon as possible! I hope you guys have enjoyed so far~ :D


	6. Wandering to One's Own heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo keeps avoiding his problems, until he doesn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you might have noticed that I changed the chapter count from 8 to 7. Sorry to those of you who were looking forward to 8 chapters! Shortening it just felt natural with how the story was progressing. I didn't want to force anything and have it turn out not as great :)

Kuroo tapped his pen against his notebook, grimacing at the equation his professor was writing out on the board at the front of the lecture hall. He might be good at this stuff, but that didn’t mean it was always automatically easy for him – or that he liked it. Particularly on days where his mind wasn’t exactly one hundred percent _there_. He was still a touch hungover from the night before, and more than a touch freaking out over Bokuto’s visit that morning. Still, he did his best to focus on his lecturer’s scribbles. Kuroo tapped his pen a few more times, before beginning to copy the equation from the board. He didn’t understand it completely, not yet, but he was starting to get it – and concentrating on writing it out was a better distraction than nothing.

Despite his best efforts to try and lose himself in his work – alcohol and sex had backfired awfully, after all – impatience niggled at the back of his mind. Kenma had agreed to come over and talk, but only after Kuroo _actually_ went to class for once. The only reason he’d gotten a mild scolding instead of a lecture on how often he’d been skipping recently was because of the whole mugging incident. He was impatient to see Kenma, to get things off his chest. He was also impatient to go home. Home had far less chances of running into Bokuto and Terushima. Whatever he felt towards the two of them, he couldn’t deal with it today.

Eventually, the professor finished writing out the equation, and started jotting down annotations as he explained more in-depth how to use the equation for specific problems. He mirrored his professor’s notes, colour-coding where he thought he needed. The longer his professor droned on, the more Kuroo’s mind began to wander, and the less he could ignore the mess of emotions gnawing at the pit of his stomach. Guilt. Fear. Longing. They were almost overwhelming.

When his lecturer finally announced the end of class, he breathed out a sigh of relief. Quickly, he stood and stuffed his notes and stationary into his bag and rushed out of the lecture hall. As he walked, he fished his phone out of his pocket to check the time. 4:46pm. Kenma would be leaving his own classes to meet Kuroo at his place in about twenty minutes. His eyes drifted to the text notifications littering the rest of his screen, almost all of them from Bokuto and Terushima. Pursing his lips, he glanced up from his screen – and spotted the exact people he was avoiding.

Bokuto and Terushima were walking in his direction, fingers interlocked. They both had slight frowns on their faces as they talked, and their shoulders sagged, just a little. They had none of their usual energy. Kuroo felt another pang of guilt at the thought that he might be the cause of how tired and worried they looked. He paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, and, just then, both Bokuto and Terushima looked up at the same time. Kuroo could see the moment of realization dawning on their faces as they saw him there, and he panicked. He was definitely not ready to see them right now. He wasn’t even sure what they were _doing_ there. He knew for a fact that neither of them studied anything that would bring them to this faculty. Had they come looking for him? He fought the urge to swear. But, before he could do anything, Terushima and Bokuto were already there, and Kuroo had to pocket his phone again and smile awkwardly.

“Kuroo, hey,” Bokuto said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “We were hoping to catch you here.”

Kuroo tried to laugh, but it rang hollow. “You guys came all this way just for me?” He said, trying to keep his tone light and failing miserably.

Their frowns only deepened, and Kuroo could tell that they knew that he was trying to deflect. “Of course we did, Kuroo,” Terushima said. There was a strain to his voice that made Kuroo’s heart clench. “We were hoping that we could talk? Sorry to ambush you like this. It’s just, y’know. You weren’t answering any of our texts.”

Kuroo ran a hand through his hair, pursing his lips. “Look, I just…” He started, and then stopped, sighing. “I’m actually on my way to meet Kenma right now.”

“Right, okay,” Terushima said, sounding obviously disappointed. Kuroo glanced down just in time to see him squeezing Bokuto’s hand, and mentally kicked himself. Why was he so damn _afraid_ to just have this conversation with them? Just what was he scared of? The commitment? Them only seeing him as a platonic match? Falling in love, and then having it end in tragedy? All of it, maybe.

Kuroo bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to keep his expression calm, and let out a steadying breath. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just… I need to get going.”

He hesitated for a moment, giving them a thin smile, and then stepped around them, making to leave. He hadn’t taken two steps when Bokuto caught him by the hand, squeezing it tightly. Kuroo stopped, breathing in sharply.

“Kuroo,” Bokuto said, voice far too quiet and soft. Kuroo looked up to meet his gaze; Bokuto’s eyes were wide and pleading. “You’ll… You’ll call us, right?”

Kuroo’s fingers twitched as every instinct in his body told him to squeeze back, to reassure Bokuto of… _Something_. Instead, he just gave him a short nod and another, small smile. “I will,” he said, just as quietly. “I promise.”

Bokuto nodded in return, and loosened his grip, letting Kuroo’s hand slip from his. Kuroo looked to Terushima, locking eyes with him for a moment, before turning again and, this time, walked away unhindered. As he reached the staircase at the end of the hall, he hesitated, glancing over his shoulder to see Bokuto and Terushima watching him. Quickly, he looked away and hurried down the stairs.

 

* * *

 

When Kuroo got home, he immediately collapsed onto the couch and groaned into the cushion. He just _had_ to keep fucking up, didn’t he? The hurt had been obvious in Bokuto and Terushima’s eyes. That Kuroo had been the one cause it made his stomach churn. But he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what they wanted. How was he supposed to go from here?

The sound of someone clicking their tongue made Kuroo begrudgingly look up to see Tsukishima frowning down at him. “Moping again?” He asked, sounding entirely unimpressed.

“I am not _moping_ ,” Kuroo said, frowning back at him. Tsukishima just fixed him with a look. Kuroo sighed. “I might be moping a little bit.”

“Of course you are,” he said, looking just a little smug.

“Hey, not all of us can have adorably vanilla soulmates that swoon all over us the second we meet,” Kuroo huffed.

Tsukishima rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I’m having Yamaguchi over tonight, so-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Kuroo sighed. “I’ll make myself scarce. Kenma and I’ll get out of here before then.”

Tsukishima nodded. “Thanks,” he said. “And… I hope you work things out.”

“Tsukki!” Kuroo said, pretending to tear up. “You really do care! I always knew you had some dere to that tsun of yours!”

Tsukishima just sighed and clicked his tongue again. “Don’t call me that,” he grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and retreating to his room. Kuroo allowed himself a snicker, before dropping his face back onto the couch pillow. His eyes fluttered shut, and he let himself drift into a light sleep as he waited for Kenma.

Soon enough, there was a knock at his door, just loud enough to rouse Kuroo back into consciousness. He pushed himself off of the couch and stumbled over to the door, rubbing at his eyes. He opened the door for Kenma and silently returned to his spot on the couch, watching as his friend took the spot next to him. A moment of quiet passed between them before Kenma spoke up.

“So, what happened?” He asked, gently. Kuroo hadn’t gone into the details of what happened that morning, beyond that he’d fucked up. Kenma had insisted on coming over to discuss it instead – so that Kuroo couldn’t hang up on him to evade uncomfortable questions.

“We match,” Kuroo said, letting out a long, shuddering breath. “Bokuto and me. And Terushima.”

Kenma’s eyes widened. “Did you see it again?”

Kuroo shook his head, drawing his legs up to his chest and letting his head sag back on the couch. “No,” he said. “I, uh. I went out drinking with Oikawa last night. Ended up hooking up with some random guy. Sakurai? Sakuya? I can’t remember. Anyway.” He took a deep breath. “Bokuto came by this morning because I hadn’t been answering his texts. He, ah. He saw me shirtless. And he saw Saku-whatever stumbling out of my room. I could tell by the look on his face when he saw my mark that we, um. We matched. Then, he and Terushima came by after class today to talk. Because I still wasn’t answering their texts. But I told them that I was meeting you.”

Kenma gave him a quizzical look. “Isn’t that a good thing?” He asked. “It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

“It is, but…” He paused, pursing his lips. How should he phrase this? His emotions were such a jumble inside his head, it was difficult to sort through for himself – let alone explain them to someone else. “Not… Not like this. I hurt them, Kenma. Bokuto especially, I think. You should have seen the look on his face today. It was… Ugh, I don’t even want to talk about it. And…” He bit the inside of his cheek.

“And…?” Kenma prodded.

“What if… What if they don’t see me how I see them? What if it doesn’t work out the way I want it to?” He sighed, screwing up his face. “What if it works out like that convenience store guy?” Kenma was quiet for a moment, but then scooted closer to Kuroo, so that their shoulders were pressing against one another. Kenma wasn’t exactly what you would call a touchy person, so Kuroo appreciated it. Kuroo shifted, letting his head rest on Kenma’s shoulder, and sighed again.

“For one, Kuro, you’re not some petty thief looking to hold an innocent girl at gunpoint for money,” Kenma said eventually, breaking the silence. “Or in this case, Bokuto and Terushima. I can’t say what will happen in the future. It might not be easy. But that shouldn’t stop you. You can’t know anything until you talk to them.”

Kuroo shut his eyes for a moment, letting Kenma’s words sink in. “I never wanted a soulmate,” Kuroo muttered, suddenly feeling a little indignant. “And now I have two, somehow.”

“For what it’s worth, they suit you,” Kenma said. Kuroo didn’t have to look up at him to know that he had a small smile on his lips.

“Thanks, Kenma,” he said, smiling a little in return. “I’m just… Scared.”

“I know,” Kenma said. “But, despite how you look, you’re also smart. You’ll figure things out.”

“Despite how I look?” Kuroo repeated, affronted. “That’s so rude, Kenma! Is that how you treat a friend when he’s going through an emotional crisis?” Kenma just let out a soft snort. “But really, thank you, Kenma.”

“It’s nothing, Kuro.”

“How are things with you and Shrimpy going?” He asked. “Since we last spoke, I mean.”

“We spoke two days ago,” Kenma said. “Not everything happens as fast as things do in your life.”

Kuroo chuckled a little, shrugging. “True, I guess,” he said.

“We have a date tonight, though,” Kenma said. “We’re going to the movies and then we’re going to play video games at my apartment.”

“That’s great, Kenma!” He said, a grin splitting across his face. Even in the midst of him feeling sorry for himself, it still made him happy to see Kenma happy. “Have fun tonight. And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“That’s certainly setting the bar low,” Kenma said.

Kuroo laughed at that, loud and earnest, sitting forward on the couch. “You’re a lot meaner than you used to be, y’know that, Kenma?” He said in between laughter. “Whatever happened to the quiet and demure boy I used to know and love?”

Kenma just fixed him with a look. “He became friends with you.”

Kuroo snickered. “Yeah, I suppose that’ll do it. But really, have fun. Let me know how it goes. I’ll probably head over to the library tonight,” he said. “Tsukki is kicking me out for the night. His adorable soulmate is coming over.”

“If you want to come over after the movie, I don’t mind,” Kenma offered. “If I’d known you were going to be alone…”

Kuroo smiled, but shook his head. “Nah, dude, don’t worry about it,” he said. “Have your adorable date with Shrimpy. I need to do some more thinking, anyway. And catch up on some work. I also promised Bo a call.”

Kenma nodded. “Alright. You’ll call me if you need anything, right?”

“Yeah, I will,” Kuroo said. “Thanks again, Kenma. You should go get ready for your date.”

Kenma watched him for a moment, as if looking for something. When he was satisfied, he nodded again. “Okay,” he said, standing up. “See you, Kuro. Good luck.”

“Bye, Kenma!” He called as Kenma reached the door. “Don’t forget to give me the deets of your _hot_ _date_ later!”

Kenma rolled his eyes, but smiled regardless, giving Kuroo a quiet nod as he closed the door behind him. Once Kuroo was alone, he sat back on the couch again and stared up at the ceiling. After a few moments, he let his eyes drift shut again, and dozed for a while. He woke up again to the sounds of pots and pans clanging together, and realized that it was later than he thought it was. He sat forward, yawning and running a hand through his hair, and glanced to the side to see Tsukishima already in the kitchen, preparing dinner.

“When’s Yamaguchi coming?” Kuroo asked, standing up and stretching.

“Half an hour,” Tsukishima answered absently, his concentration on whatever dish he was preparing.

“Right, I’ll be out of your way,” he said. He picked his bag up off the floor, and made sure that his wallet and phone were still on him, before heading for the door. “Have a nice evening, Tsukki.”

“Thanks,” Tsukishima called. “And don’t call me that.”

Kuroo just smiled to himself and left. As he walked out of their apartment building and onto the street, he realized that he didn’t really feel like going to the library. At all. He might be feeling better after his talk with Kenma. Lighter. But his mind was still reeling. There was no way that he was going to be able to concentrate right then. But, he also couldn’t go back to his apartment for at least a few hours. So, he elected to just wander. He owed Bokuto a phone call, but… Something just didn’t feel right about calling him there and then. He wasn’t settled enough.

So, he shoved his hands in his pockets, and he walked. Kuroo glanced at the people he passed, and couldn’t help but wonder about them. Did they all have soulmates? Had they already met their soulmates? Did any of them have more than one, like he did? Were they happy? The questions spun around in his head, until he couldn’t take them anymore, and he just concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. He didn’t have a particular destination in mind. He just hoped that, maybe, if he walked for long enough, answers would come with the night air. Kenma had said that he was smart, and that he’d figure things out eventually – but that didn’t mean that it still wasn’t a damn difficult process.

Kuroo wandered for what seemed like hours, until his legs were sluggish and burning from the exertion. He wasn’t unfit, but walking halfway across the city wasn’t exactly something he did often. Plus, he didn’t exercise nearly as much as he used to. Disciplining himself wasn’t one of his strong suits.

Eventually, haggard and worn out, he came to a stop. He wasn’t sure where he was, or how he’d gotten there. A few landmarks looked vaguely familiar, but he didn’t come to this area often. Kuroo started forward again, deciding to try and find an area that he knew better. Just as he did, a few, wet droplets fell on his face, followed by a thick downpour of rain. Cursing, Kuroo began to run. Most of the shops on the street were closed, so he had to duck into an apartment building at the end of the block. As he stepped inside, he suddenly realized where he was.

The street might not have looked all that familiar, but this lobby certainly did. This was Bokuto and Terushima’s building. Kuroo let out a sharp breath, deflating. Unconsciously, he’d somehow come here. Looking up at the foyer’s ugly, tiled roof, he was suddenly at a loss for what to do. Being in the rain had left him drenched to the bone, and, without an umbrella, he was in no hurry to go back out into it. If he loitered in the lobby, someone was bound to notice him and get him kicked out eventually. But… What could he do?

As if coming to answer him, Kuroo heard the sound of someone opening the door and stepping into the lobby behind him. “Kuroo?” Called a familiar voice. Kuroo turned, heart both clenching and soaring at the sight of Terushima standing there, folding up his umbrella.

“Uh, hey,” Kuroo said awkwardly, trying to smile.

“Jesus, you’re soaked,” Terushima said, catching Kuroo by the wrist. “Come on, before you catch a cold.”

Terushima led Kuroo through the Foyer, and into the elevator, pointedly not letting go once they were inside. Kuroo tried not to relish too much in the contact. Things could still go awry, he reminded himself. The elevator ride was silent, as was the walk to Terushima and Bokuto’s apartment. It somehow wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t comfortable either. Once they were inside, Terushima left Kuroo in the doorway, disappearing further into the apartment. After a few soft bangs and muted murmurs, Terushima reappeared with a towel and stack of clothes, and Bokuto trailing behind him. Terushima placed the towel on Kuroo’s head, gently rubbing his wet hair, and then handed him the clothes.

“Here, get changed,” he said. “We’ll hang your clothes out to dry when you’re done.”

Kuroo nodded mutely, taking the clothes from Terushima and making his way to the bathroom. As he stepped inside and shut the door behind him, he let out a long, shuddering sigh. Had he made a mistake in letting Terushima drag him up here? He certainly hoped not. Numbly, he peeled his wet clothes off, and changed into the dry ones – pyjamas, it seemed – that Terushima had supplied. When he was done, he gathered his clothes and the towel up off the floor, and made his way back into the living room. Terushima took the bundle of fabric from him wordlessly, hanging them over a washing rack in front of the heater.

There was an awkward beat of silence as Kuroo ran his hand through his hair. “So, um,” he said haltingly, not sure where to go from there. He glanced around the room, trying not to look at the way Terushima and Bokuto leaned into one another. After another moment, Bokuto took Kuroo’s hand, leading him to the couch, and sitting him down across from them.

“How long have you known?” Bokuto asked. It was obvious what he was talking about without him specifying.

Kuroo pursed his lips, looking down at his lap as his fingers curled around the fabric of his pants. “Since I met you,” he said quietly. “I didn’t… I thought I was mistaken, when Terushima showed up. But I still…”

“Still what?” Terushima prodded, his voice disarmingly gentle – so unlike his usual vigour.

“Fell for you,” he said, surprised at his own honesty. “Both of you. I didn’t _know_ know until Bo showed up and… Saw. I could tell by the look on his face.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Bokuto asked. Kuroo looked up at him this time, and faltered at the look on both of their faces. It was so open, so vulnerable, that Kuroo wasn’t sure what to do with himself.

“I… You guys already have each other,” he said. “And you know how I felt about soulmates. I didn’t… I didn’t want to be another ‘soulmate’ story that ended in tragedy. I didn’t- don’t want to find out that you guys don’t see me how I see you.”

Bokuto made a low whining noise in the back of his throat. “Kuroo-!”

“Don’t,” Kuroo said, shaking his head, and then quieter, “don’t. You don’t need to tell me that I’m just a friend. It’s too fast, I know. I know-”

Kuroo was cut off by lips pressing against his, firm, but also a little unsure. He let out a surprised sound, pulling back just a little and gazing into Bokuto’s golden eyes. “I’m sorry,” Bokuto said, pulling away and smiling a little sheepishly. “That was a bit rude, wasn’t it?”

Kuroo’s mouth fell open as he struggled to find what to say. He snapped it shut, and then settled for a high-pitched, “um?” Great. Intelligent, Kuroo. He could feel his cheeks heating, and he knew that he was heading for a full-body blush.

Terushima let out a soft chuckle, and took one of Kuroo’s hands in his, lacing their fingers together. “Kuroo, we like you,” he said. “A lot. I think the moment I saw you sleeping with those pillows pressed into your head was the moment I realized that I was doomed.”

Bokuto took Kuroo’s other hand, squeezing it ever so slightly. “Sorry we didn’t realize how you felt sooner,” he said.

Kuroo looked between the two of them, dumbfounded into silence. He felt his heart swell. He was elated and terrified, all at the same time. “I’m… Scared,” he admitted, repeating the words he’d said to Kenma earlier.

“That’s okay!” Bokuto said, squeezing his hand again “You can be scared. We’ll be here for you. It’s what soulmates do, right?”

 _It’s what soulmates do_.

Kuroo’s breath hitched a little, and he felt his eyes sting. He probably shouldn’t be getting so emotional, but – it just felt so _right_ to be here with them. Like everything had finally fallen into place. Terushima stood up, pulling Kuroo along with him.

“Come on, you look exhausted,” he said, leading Kuroo towards their bedroom. “We can talk more about this in the morning. I think an early night would do all of us some good.”

Kuroo nodded dumbly, letting himself be pulled into bed and draped in blankets. Terushima and Bokuto climbed in on either side of him, wrapping him in tight embraces. Kuroo let himself relax into them, lacing his fingers together with theirs. And, like that, he drifted off into a peaceful sleep, feeling warm and happy and _good_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there's that! Sorry that this chapter took me so long. I hope you guys enjoyed! The last chapter will be fluff, fluff, and more fluff to make up for all the angst! We're nearly finished! And thank you everyone for your encouraging comments <3 They helped me get through my slump and back to writing this again.
> 
> Pls yell at me about bokuroo and bokuroteru on tumblr at bokutos-kuroo. The more yelling the better.


	7. Stars in the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo, Bokuto, and Terushima are happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a fucking sap.

Kuroo, for the second time, woke up in a tangle of limbs and a blanket of warmth. There was a forehead pressed to the back of his neck, and he could feel the tickle of breath across his skin. There were heavy arms strewn across his side, and hands in his. His face was pressed into the warmth of a collarbone, and he had somehow still gotten a pillow partially over his head in the middle of the night. The slow, rhythmic sound of breathing nearly lulled him back to sleep. But, instead of letting himself be pulled back into unconsciousness, he opened his eyes, blinking a few times as everything came into focus.

It took him a moment to figure out where he was, sleep still clouding the edges of his mind. Then, as memories of the night before came back to him, he felt a smile pull at his lips. He was still scared, still unsure, but also couldn’t help but feel so wholly _happy_. Despite his insecurities, there and then, he felt safe and right and like he didn’t want to move again. Kuroo shifted a little, trying not to wake the two of them, to push the pillow off of his head. His bedhead was probably going to be even worse than usual today.

“Oh, morning, Kuroo,” he heard Terushima say, feeling his voice vibrate in his chest. Kuroo glanced up, worried that he’d woken him, and froze, breath hitching. Somehow, like this – hair a mess and bathed in the soft, morning light – he was even more handsome than usual.

“Sorry,” Kuroo whispered, hoping he wasn’t being too obvious. “Did I wake you?”

“Nah, I’ve been awake for a while,” Terushima said, a small grin tugging at his lips. “Just been watching you ‘n’ Kou sleep.”

Kuroo was silent for a moment, cheeks heating. He was a little taken aback at how readily Terushima and Bokuto had brought him in. Then, he let out a soft laugh. “Who would have guessed? You’re a sap,” he said, smiling up at Terushima.

Terushima’s grin widened, almost blindingly bright. “Yeah, I guess I am,” he chuckled. “But let’s see how long you can resist being a sap around someone as adorable as Kou.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he sighed, a touch melodramatically. “I’m well on my way to sap-dom already.”

Terushima laughed, quietly so as not to wake up Bokuto. “Hey, can I-?” Terushima started, but cut himself off, looking oddly unsure of himself. Kuroo didn’t think that he’d ever seen him look like that – it was so out of place for him; Terushima was usually so confident. When Terushima seemed hesitant to continue, Kuroo gave him a questioning look. “Can I kiss you?” He asked. Kuroo was immediately at a loss for words, his lips parting in surprise and his heartbeat picking up. “Sorry, um, it’s okay if you don’t want to,” Terushima rushed to add. “I just. Would like to. If that’s okay.”

“Yeah that’s- Yeah,” he breathed. If not for his hear hammering in his chest, he would be smiling just then; it was comforting to know that he wasn’t the only awkward one here.

Terushima nodded just slightly, and then leaned forward, cupping Kuroo’s face with his hands and pressing his lips together. He returned the kiss, eyes fluttering shut. It was far softer, far more chaste than he could have imagined possible from Terushima – who was usually all energy and vigour. But, whatever it was, it was perfect. When they pulled apart, they spent a moment just looking at each other, and, yep, Kuroo was definitely becoming a sap.

“Can I make breakfast now?” Bokuto piped up, making Kuroo jump. He shifted, turning his head to look at him questioningly. “Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt your moment. But I’m starving. I’ll wither away and die if I wait anymore!” Kuroo looked at him in stunned silence for a moment, before chuckling along with Terushima.

“Okay, Kou” said Terushima. “Let’s go make some food.” Bokuto grinned and jumped out of bed, all but scrambling out the room and towards the kitchen. Kuroo watched him with a soft smile on his face. “I’ll go help him.” Terushima sat up, climbing out of bed as well. Sometime during the night, he must have taken off his shirt. Kuroo tried not to think about that too hard. “You can wait here, if you want.”

“No, I’ll come help as well,”Kuroo said, following Terushima towards the kitchen. Bokuto was already busying himself with gathering ingredients from the cupboards and fridge, humming to himself while he worked. “What can I do?”

“Nothing, both of you,” Bokuto said, dumping some of the ingredients into a bowl and mixing them together with a wooden spoon. “I’ve got this.”

Kuroo nodded and sat down at the table, Terushima joining him shortly after. They sat patiently, content to just watch Bokuto for the time being. After a while of just watching, remembering that Kenma was supposed to text him last night, he pulled out his phone.

**Kenma:** My date with Hinata went well. He’s good at Mario Kart.

**Kenma:** Are you alright? Did you call Bokuto?

Kuroo smiled, letting out a soft chuckle as he typed out a response. At Terushima’s look, he said, “Kenma had a date with Shrimpy last night. I told him to tell me about it.”

**Kuroo:** I bet he practiced to impress you

**Kuroo:** I’m fine. At Bo & Teru’s place right now

Terushima raised his eyebrows. “Oho? And? How did it go?” He asked, grinning.

“Well, apparently,” he said, setting his phone back down on the table. “He said Shrimpy was good at video games. That’s probably the highest compliment Kenma can give someone.”

“Good for them!” Terushima said. “I’m happy for Hinata, he kept coming to the bar just to gush about Kenma.”

Kuroo laughed. “That’s adorable. I can’t wait to tell Kenma,” he said.

Terushima laughed as well, shaking his head. “You’re kind of a shit, aren’t you?”

“They didn’t call me the Provocation Expert back in high school for nothing,” he said, grinning. It surprised Kuroo a little how easily they fell back into banter after the terseness of the night before. But, he supposed that’s what being soulmates with them meant.

_Soulmates_.

He still wasn’t sure about how he felt about having two of them – but, for now, he was happy at least.

Terushima seemed to notice his expression sobering, because he opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was was cut off by Bokuto placing plates stacked with pancakes in front of them. Kuroo glanced down at his helping, raising his eyebrows at the height of it.

“This is… A lot,” he said, giving Bokuto a bemused smile.

“You gotta eat, dude!” Bokuto said. “You’re almost as twiggy as Yuuji!”

Kuroo’s eyebrows dropped into a frown as he glanced at his arms. “I’m not twiggy,” he said, shovelling a forkful of pancake into his mouth.

“Maybe if you actually played some volleyball with us you wouldn’t be, but…”

Kuroo leaned forward to swat at Bokuto. “Rude!”

Terushima laughed through a mouthful of food. “I’m not twiggy either, Kou,” he said. “We’ve been over this.”

Bokuto snorted. “You guys are tiny.”

“Compared to you!” Kuroo shot back, giving Bokuto’s arms a meaningful look. They spent the rest of breakfast much the same way; talking and laughing about everything and nothing. It was stupid banter, really, but it elated Kuroo in a way that he couldn’t really put words to.

When they finished eating, Kuroo insisted on doing the dishes, despite protest from Bokuto and Terushima. _You don’t have to_ , they’d said, _you can relax_. But, it was the least that Kuroo could do to repay the kindness and warmth that they’d shown him – plus, the delicious breakfast. When he was finished, and the dishes were packed away, he joined Bokuto and Terushima back at the table.

“So,” Terushima said when he sat down. “We should finish our conversation from last night.”

Kuroo nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “We should.”

Bokuto took Kuroo’s hands in his, holding it tightly. “Will you- will you date us? I mean, we’re already soulmates, but that doesn’t always mean _romantic_ , but- like- I mean. We want it to be romantic. With you,” he said. “Be our boyfriend, Kuroo, please?”

Kuroo paused for a moment, lips parting in surprise. He wasn’t so dense that he hadn’t known that their actions since last night had been romantic, but to hear it out loud – it still came as kind of a shock to him. “Yeah,” he said, grinning. “It still scares me a little, but yeah, I’d love to be your guys’ boyfriend.”

Bokuto’s face lit up – eyes sparkling, bright grin stretched across his face – and Kuroo didn’t think that he could ever get enough of seeing it. “I’m so happy!” He said – or, yelled, really – practically jumping across the table to crush their mouths together. Kuroo let out a soft, surprised sound, but melted into the kiss. When Bokuto pulled back, Terushima planted another kiss on Kuroo’s cheek.

“I’m really happy as well,” Terushima said, grinning from ear to ear. Kuroo was struck once again with how beautiful his soulmates were, and he smiled.

“Yeah, me too.”

 

* * *

 

Kuroo sat in between Terushima and Bokuto, heaped together on his couch as they watched some dumb B-rate horror movie about sharks. His head rested on Bokuto’s shoulder, and the fingers of his right hand were laced together with Terushima’s. With his left hand, he stuffed some over-salted popcorn into his mouth. On screen, one of the dumbest characters got murdered in the stupidest possible way. Kuroo laughed.

“Seriously? This is why you don’t look behind you when you run!” Terushima said, throwing a piece of popcorn at the screen.

“Hey, don’t mess popcorn all over my apartment!” Kuroo scolded, but there was no venom to it. “But, really – who tries to _haggle_ with the psycho murderer?”

“Someone with a death wish, obviously,” Bokuto said.

“If I ended up in that situation, I’d probably try to haggle with the psycho murderer,” Terushima said. “But I wouldn’t get myself into that situation. How to survive a horror movie: don’t be a jackass.”

Bokuto snorted. “Please, Yuuji, you’d be the first of us to die,” he said, raising his eyebrows at Terushima. “You’ve got the most piercings. That guy always dies first.”

“Harsh, Kou,” Terushima laughed. “Good to know you’d miss me.”

“Of course we’d miss you, Yuuji! Doesn’t make my statement any less true, though.”

Kuroo nodded seriously. “Yes, we’ll make sure to honour your memory by getting undercuts of our own,” he said.

Terushima let out a dramatic sigh. “Fine, but then you have to get tramp stamps of my face as well.”

“Fine,” Kuroo laughed. “We’ll get tramp stamps of your face when you’re offed by a psycho murderer in a sufficiently B-rated horror fashion.”

“Aw, thanks, babe,” he said. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Kuroo’s lips, and then pressed another to Bokuto’s. Kuroo smiled, snuggling further against Bokuto and squeezing Terushima’s hand.

A disgusted snort sounded from behind them, and Kuroo couldn’t help but laugh. “Gross,” Tsukishima said. “I almost take back wanting you to work things out.”

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Tsukki!” Kuroo said, grinning. “I’m sure Yamaguchi will come by soon enough to shower you with affection.”

Kuroo wasn’t looking at him, but he could practically see the wrinkle of Tsukishima’s nose as he glared at the back of his head. “Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t be mean, Tsukki!” Bokuto called back at him.

Tsukishima groaned. “I regret everything,” he said, and they just laughed. Kuroo could hear Tsukishima rummaging around in the kitchen, probably for some dinner. Kuroo hadn’t told him that Bokuto and Terushima were coming over, but it hadn’t really been planned. He’d been working on an essay when Bokuto had called him, yelling about this hilarious movie he’d found and that they needed to watch it _right now_. In the end, Kuroo had caved and let them come over.

About a minute later, there was a knock at the door. Kuroo didn’t bother to get up; Tsukishima was closer. He heard the sound of the door opening, followed by a soft “god, no”, and then Hinata crying, “Tsukishima!” Kuroo sat up, frowning, confused as to why Hinata was there. That’s when he realized that, shit, he’d forgot to text Kenma again yesterday. And today. Tsukishima walked wordlessly back to the kitchen, apparently electing to ignore Hinata altogether.

Apparently unbothered, Hinata barrelled into the room. “There you are, Rooster Head!” He said. “Kenma and I have been looking for you!” Kuroo glanced behind Hinata, and, sure enough, Kenma was there, looking entirely unimpressed.

“I was worried about you, Kuro,” Kenma said, shutting the door behind him and moving to stand next to Hinata at the arm of the couch.

“Uh, whoops?” Kuroo offered, giving him a sheepish smile and a shrug. “Honeymoon period?”

Kenma sighed, rolling his eyes. “Well, I’m happy for you, at least,” he said. “But now you owe me and Hinata dinner for coming over here to check on you.” Hinata just grinned.

Kuroo groaned. “But Kenma,” he whined. “You know how much I hate cooking.”

“I’ll cook!” Bokuto said, perking up. “Gotta make a good proper first impression on our boy’s best friend.” Before Kuroo could say anything, Bokuto was up and making himself at home in Kuroo’s kitchen. “You eat with us, too, Tsukki!”

Tsukishima sighed. “Fine. This better be good,” he said.

“It will be,” Kuroo assured him. “Bo is an amazing cook.”

They paused the movie, congregating in the kitchen while Bokuto cooked, helping here and there. Not long after, dinner was done, and they all returned to the living room to finish the movie while they ate. It was stupid, but they laughed – even Kenma and Tsukishima, occasionally. When the movie finished, and their food – delicious as always – was done they sat, just talking, with Kuroo wedged between Bokuto and Terushima once more.

He didn’t know what it meant to have a soulmate – or two, for that matter – or if it would end happily or in tragedy, like the convenience store clerk and their soulmate. But, whatever it meant, or whatever would happen in the future, Kuroo found that he didn’t care. All he cared about, right then, was the feeling of Terushima’s hand in his, and the way Bokuto’s breath tickled across his cheek.

In that moment, that’s all he wanted, or needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's that! Sorry this chapter was so short. But! I had fun writing all the fluff. It was great lmao. And, finally writing some polyamory was a lot of fun c: I love this ot3 sooooo much.  
> Anyway, thank you everyone for your continued support! :D I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. I'll probably get back to bokuroo soon!
> 
> hmu at bokutos-kuroo on tumblr to yell at me about bokuroo and bokuroteru


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